Formspring Drabbles
by Kiterie
Summary: KakaIru Drabbles and short stories written in response to the KakaIru Formspring account. Length and Content varies greatly.
1. Popsicle

Title: Popsicle  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring (and yes the username is KakaIru)  
Question: Would you rather be hot or cold?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

Would he rather be hot or cold? Kakashi considered the question... really it wasn't that hard. He held the popsicle out for Iruka and let his eyes slide across the endless amounts of tan skin.

"I'm going to die... I'm going to melt right here into a puddle," Iruka whined, opening his eyes and looking up at Kakashi. They slid and locked on the popsicle then he reached out took it. "I thought we were out." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than colored ice was slid into it. He sucked on it, half smiling as he did and his eyes slid shut as he hummed happily.

"A little bit of juice and a jutsu fixes that problem rather nicely," Kakashi purred, licking his lips. Of course he could have easily used the same jutsu to cool the entire apartment down. If he had then Iruka wouldn't be laying there naked on the couch, sweat sliding over his skin while he sucked with obvious joy on the nice, long stick of frozen juice. Maybe it was cheating but who could really blame him?


	2. Talented

Title: Talented  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Who's the most talented person you know?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

Iruka moaned, writhing under the attentions, fingers pressing into him. A hand slid over his ass, squeezed then moved further along the skin warming with the motion. It sent a shiver up his spine making him gasp as a thumb pressed skillfully at each vertebrate.

"You really should take a day off more often." The tone was amused. "I'm not sure even I'm capable of getting all these knots out."

Smiling, Iruka turned his head a little and cracked open an eye. "You are the most talented man I know," he purred, arching against the hands sliding over his back. It was the truth though, Kakashi's hands could turn him into a puddle of unresisting goo in a matter of minutes.

Kakashi laughed then leaned forward. "I can show you what else these very talented hands are good for if you like," he purred, fingers sliding along the crack of Iruka's ass to press pointedly against the puckered hole.

Iruka gasped, flushing brightly at the rather obvious implications. The images that filled his head right then made him shiver and he resisted the urge to push back against the teasing finger. "Well I am at your mercy... you could do anything you liked and I doubt I could muster the strength to complain." Kakashi was the most talented person he knew in more ways than one and now... he was dying to find out exactly how far those talents went.


	3. Dinner

Title: Dinner (Mission Iruka Universe)  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: If you had to cook dinner for somebody tonight what would you make?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

Iruka frowned and stirred the pot of water and dried bonito flakes. He'd never made it before but it looked like an easy recipe and it was Kakashi's favorite so he was trying. The fish was already in the oven and he had the eggplant already cut and ready to put in the soup which didn't seem to want to boil even after five minutes. It just sat there looking like a murky pool of... not soup. It wasn't steaming.

Kakashi laughed then leaned past him and turned one knob, it clicked off. "It would help if you turned the right burner on," he snickered.

"Oh..." Iruka flushed. It wasn't his fault, he'd never used Kakashi's stove before. It was electric, his at home was gas and he couldn't even tell which burner was on now. The little painted indicators were gone, rubbed off from age, and there was no flame to go by. "I was trying to have it done before you got home."

"I'm glad I got home early, if I hadn't you'd probably have burned the place down or something," Kakashi teased, dodging a playful swat and sliding an arm around Iruka's waist. "Thank you for the thought." He kissed him on the cheek and lightly pulled him back.

"Hey... I'm cooking here," Iruka protested weakly and definitely not arching his neck as the kisses trailed down to it.

Another laugh as the pan was pulled away and Kakashi slowly dragged him towards the living room. "You also forgot to turn the oven on. They're not exactly what I'm in the mood for at the moment though."

Iruka pouted a little, he really had wanted to cook Kakashi dinner and his cooking was getting better. "But..." he protested slightly.

"It can wait," Kakashi purred, turning Iruka to face him then promptly stealing a kiss. "Promise."


	4. Shiny

Title: Shiny  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Why do crows like shiny things?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

First it had been the metal plate on the back of glove that caught his attention. Kakashi had handed him a mission scroll and for a moment he'd been absolutely transfixed on it. He hadn't even had to look up to know it was Kakashi even though he knew for a fact that the silver-haired jounin was not the only one who wore those gloves. Still... somehow he'd come to relate those gloves with Kakashi. He would have even bet that he could have picked Kakashi's out from a dozen just like it. The fact had taken him by surprise and it wasn't until the man pulled his hand back that he was even able to look up. "Hello Kakashi-san," he managed, sounding a bit dazed even to himself.

A few days later he'd been out shopping and he turned to ask Mahiko-chan a question and caught sight of it again. Then when he'd passed by the bridge he found his attention drawn again as light caught the metal of the sword Kakashi was holding as he went through a kata. Gai stood opposite him mirroring ever motion and yet Iruka only barely noted the fact. The day after that Kakashi's headband caught his attention as he passed the man who was talking to Genma just outside the academy.

The fact that it only seemed to be Kakashi who grabbed his attention that way made Iruka wonder if maybe he was under the effect of some kind of jutsu. Kakashi however seemed unaware of it and didn't even look in his direction, his nose buried in his book as Iruka's attention was yet again pulled inexplicably toward him. It was disorienting and he found himself thinking more and more about Kakashi every time it happened.

"Kakashi-san," Iruka said, stopping the other on the street. He was sure it was a jutsu, it was the only explanation for his sudden obsession. It had to be.

"Hm?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow curiously.

"You would never..." It sounded like such a dumb thing to ask and Iruka hesitated. "I mean I've noticed you a lot lately and I was... uhm..." He flushed, suddenly not sure what he was going to say.

"Are you asking me out?" Kakashi asked, sounding surprised.

Iruka started. His cheeks flushed bright red as he realized that was exactly how it sounded. "I..." He desperately tried to think how to explain without sounding like a complete jackass.

Kakashi stepped closer, eyes studying the tanned face for a moment. "I never really noticed how cute you are when you blush like that," he said, his eye curving up in his typical smile.

The closeness, the compliment, and the expression made Iruka flush even darker. His chest tightened and it was all he could do not to step back. Kakashi's response caught him so completely off guard that it suddenly seemed even more ridiculous, even incomprehensible that the man would have put a jutsu on him. After all why would he care about getting Iruka's attention? It seemed silly and Iruka was ashamed he'd ever even thought it. Now he really didn't know what to say.

"We could get some dinner," Kakashi suggested, still smiling at him.

Iruka swallowed and nodded to embarrassed to admit that he hadn't actually been asking Kakashi out. "I'd like that." As the words slipped out, Iruka was surprised they were true.

His name might mean 'dolphin' but Iruka was starting to think he had more in common with a crow than the intelligent ocean fairing mammal. He wondered why they were attracted to shiny things and while he didn't have an answer he was beginning to understand it.


	5. Distraction

Title: Distraction  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: As a ninja, you have to stay put for hours at times to spy on people. Do you get bug bites often?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

Iruka loved and hated missions. He could list a hundred reasons for either depending on where the mission was but right at the moment he particularly hated missions on the border of Grass and Rain. Right this minute he loathed them with every ounce of his being times two and then some.

He peeled his shirt off and dropped it in the hamper. "I hate... oh kami!" Iruka Reached behind with both arms, fingers stretching for the middle of his back. He could reach it but only just barely and then it wasn't with nearly enough force. Changing strategies he leaned against the edge of doorway and shifted his shoulders back and forth then up and down. That did the trick but then his legs started driving him crazy and scrubbed them with his hands before all but ripping his pants and boxers off so he could scrape too short nails roughly across the skin.

"Stop that. It only makes it worse when you do that. When you scratch at them you're only pulling blood and irritating the skin which makes it worse. You just have to ignore them for a while and you'll stop noticing," Kakashi said informatively while smothering a laugh. "Besides you look ridiculous doing that."

"I DON'T CARE!" Iruka growled turning his attention to his arms and chest. "And you're NOT helping."

Sighing, Kakashi slid out of bed and walked over. "You're so cranky when you come back from missions. Honestly you think you'd be used to it by now." Kakashi yanked Iruka's hands away from his body by the wrists. "Stop."

"I can't, now please let go, please?" Iruka whined, not caring if he sounded like a petulant five year old.

Kakashi pulled him into the bathroom, ignoring his request for freedom. He dropped one hand to turn the shower on.

Iruka took the moment to scratch at a spot on his upper thigh. "It's not my fault. You would have more sympathy if you'd seen the size of those mosquitoes. I swear I've seen smaller ones in the forest of death. They could carry off small children."

"If they could then why don't you look like Genma's pincushion?" he asked, shoving Iruka into the shower.

"Eeeeya!" Iruka screamed as the icy cold water hit his skin. "What the FUCK, Kakashi?"

Kakashi slid in after him and pulled the curtain closed then grabbed Iruka's free hand and pulled both behind his back. "I love you but you really are the world's biggest baby when it comes a few little bug bites."

Iruka scowled up at him, shivering. His back was to the water and his hair was starting to cling to his neck and his back. He hated to admit it but it was actually starting to help. "I am not, you just don't know what it's like because you never get bitten," he pouted.

Laughing, Kakashi kissed him. "Mm... well I can see why they would want to bite you, you taste so good."

He wanted to be angry and sulk because he'd just spent the last five days traipsing through a swamp in order to deliver a message to an informant. It was hard though when his lover said things like that and was pressed up against him as close as they could possibly get right then. His lover that he hadn't seen in two weeks because he'd had to leave before the other had returned.

"I hate when you're not hear when I come home," Kakashi whispered, leaning his forehead against Iruka's and stealing little kisses.

"I missed you too." He pulled his hands free and slid them around Kakashi's neck. It was rare for him not to be there when Kakashi came back from his missions and it was one of the reasons he was so glad that his responsibilities kept him close. Iruka knew he needed him there. He understood what it meant to have somebody to come home too, especially for Kakashi who kept his distance as best as he could while loving the village and the people in it passionately.

They stood there like that for a long moment, Kakashi's hands resting on his hips with his fingers rubbing lightly across the skin. Then Kakashi slipped one hand down to cup his ass and rubbed against him, slowly grinding their hips together.

Panting, Iruka tilted his head so that he could kiss Kakashi again, deeper this time, thrusting his tongue inside the warmth of Kakashi's mouth. Even with the cold water streaming down his back he could feel himself responding, the tightening in his groin and the way his heart raced a little as finger rubbed along his perineum. Kakashi's hand left his hip for a moment and then something slick was rubbed against his skin and took a second for Iruka to realize it had to be conditioner.

"I love you," Kakashi murmured, before pulling his hand away for a moment then returning it and sliding the other between them. He wrapped his fingers around both of their cocks and even as long as they were the tips barely touched. The temperature of the water warmed slightly.

Iruka gasped unable to respond, the sound becoming a low moan when Kakashi started stroking slowly. Unable to think straight he leaned forward and kissed his lover again, his hands sliding over the tight muscles of his neck and shoulders.

Kakashi pressed the tip of his finger inside Iruka, just teasing the tight hole for a while not slowing his strokes as he did.

How he managed to do both was beyond Iruka, it was one of those skills few people hand and he wondered vaguely in the back of his mind if Kakashi wasn't ambidextrous. He could feel his body flushing, the rush of warmth despite being chilled. "Ka...kashi..." Iruka could feel how close he was, the tightness of his groin, how his muscles clenched, and he almost couldn't breath.

The conditioner was slowly being rinsed away despite being out of the way of the spray of water. Tightening his grip just a little, Kakashi swiped a thumb across the tips.

The finger teasing him pushed further inside and his body tightened even more. Kakashi's thumb pressing down over his tip, Iruka came, covering Kakashi's fingers. He could feel Kakashi's cock tense against his and he slid a hand down fondle his balls. It was enough to push Kakashi over the edge and cum spurted across Iruka's stomach.

His legs wanted to collapse under him and Iruka was suddenly aware of exactly how cold he was. They were both shivering pretty hard.

Kakashi kissed him again then pulled him out of the shower. He grabbed a towel and patted Iruka dry before scrubbing himself with it and tossing over the top of the shower. Then turning he dragged Iruka back to the bedroom.

He was still shaking as he crawled into bed after Kakashi. Even with the blankets over them he felt cold. "Want to explain what was with the cold shower?" It wasn't really a complaint, after all it was hard to complain about anything that included sex.

"Gets the blood away from the surface of the skin and it and the rest distracts you long enough you forget how bad you itch." Kakashi smirked, tightening his arms around Iruka's waist.

Iruka couldn't help but laugh because it was true. He didn't itch anymore.


	6. Kids

Title: Kids  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Kakashi and Iruka adopt, the origin of 'Sumi' (I know... the name is my dA account username BUT it's not a self insert I picked it for the username because I didn't want to use my Kiterie one because I was... having issues that day with it and well then I couldn't think of anything or fix it after so it's stuck but I have never thought of myself as Sumi, for me it's always been Kit, Kitty, Kiterie or some variation thereof.  
Question: Kids. Has the thought ever crossed your minds? Ideal names? Boy or Girl? And of course how many?  
Warnings: M/M pairing, baby cutey fluffiness... and just a smidge of angst  
Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever own Naruto.

* * *

Kakashi hadn't wanted kids, not for a second. He was a shinobi first and a parent had to be a parent first. He didn't want them because he didn't want to think about what it meant if he failed. If he failed as a shinobi they would pay the price either because he didn't come home, like his mother, or because he did, like his father. Just because he'd eventually forgiven his father didn't mean they would, and even _he_ had done so too late. It hurt and Kakashi hadn't wanted to put anyone through that, especially not his own child.

There was never a point that he could honestly remember _being_ a child. He'd trained to be a shinobi since before he could remember and then he'd been one for over two decades. The thought of even interacting with a child when they weren't seemed... impossible.

Then, of course, there had been the fact that he was who he was. He was cold and distant and how could he possibly love a child the way they were supposed to be loved. They wouldn't understand that he was afraid he'd break them. It would just seem to them that their father didn't love them. How could he do that to a child? He could never be a dad.

"I can't do this." He held the baby out at arms length at Iruka, clearly expecting the other man to take it. When Iruka had pulled him into the nursery of the makeshift hospital he hadn't expected to have the infant shoved into his arms.

Iruka laughed and took a step back. "Sure you can, Kakashi."

"No." Kakashi's eyes widened at the growing distance between the baby and Iruka, his voice pitching up slightly and his chest tightening. "No, I can't." He was going to drop her and then she'd break.

"Gah..." The infant stuck her fingers in her mouth then began giggling and kicking her feet.

"Iruka..." His voice became more of a whine. If he moved there was a chance, infinitesimal as it might be, that he would drop her.

"She likes you." The amusement in Iruka's voice was more than a little apparent, it pitched a little the way it did when he was smothering a laugh.

Kakashi glared at his boyfriend. "Would you stop laughing and take her before I drop her." Not that he would do so intentionally it just seemed the most likely outcome of him holding one.

There was a nice long pause and then Iruka stepped close and slid his hands over Kakashi's pressing the baby up against him slowly. "Well if you keep holding her out like that, you're arms will get tired and you just might," Iruka chuckled, taking one of Kakashi's with one hand and guiding it down and across to the little girl's leg. "Just hold her like this and you'll be fine." He smiled and then tugged Kakashi's other hand until it was behind the baby's head. "See... it's much easier this way and no risk of dropping her." The corners of his mouth curved with the clearly barely suppressed laugh.

"What if I squeeze too tight? Or she doesn't like me? Or..." Kakashi wondered if there was anything worse than that.

"You've dealt with newborn pups right?" Iruka's hands slid around Kakashi's waist as he talked, the baby snuggled between them. "Ever had to take care of one that didn't have a mother? Ever had to bottle feed one?"

"That's... different." Puppies were puppies and Kakashi was fairly sure they weren't the same thing. Despite the protest the tense muscles in his arms and back, eased with the chunin's closeness. Having Iruka right there meant he couldn't possibly drop the baby.

Clearly oblivious to Kakashi's fears the little girl babbled and touched his face and mask, her pudgy fingers pulling at the fabric.

The smirk on Iruka's lips became more pronounced. "Mm... Babies are babies, Kakashi."

Kakashi frowned and the nervous, tense feeling in his stomach didn't ease in the slightest at the reassurance. "But..."

"When the puppy is hungry it cries and you give it a bottle, same with a baby. You have to help the puppy go to the bathroom and clean up after it, babies are easier. You put the diaper on and you take it off, clean it up and put a new one on." Iruka's voice pitched as he talked and he gave a low, amused chuckle. "They both like to be held close. They both like to be warm. They both have heads that are too big for their bodies. They both require consistency and training as they get older. They _really_ aren't that different."

"It's not that easy, it can't be." Kakashi didn't whine this time though. "When she gets older..." He swallowed, trying to push all the horrible fears that welled up at the thought away. "We could ruin her."

The smile on Iruka's face faded, his eyes softening with the change in expression, he wasn't frowning though. "I know there's a chance something could happen. Even if one of us doesn't come home, or makes a choice that... hurts the people we care about, or anything bad happens... We won't let it ruin her even if the worst happens."

Kakashi swallowed again. "I thought you didn't want kids?"

"I didn't... I never really considered having kids. I like kids and I have over two dozen every day and they are very much _my_ kids." Iruka said it with a level of certainty that left no room for argument. "But..." He smiled again, this time his eyes lowered and he looked from the little girl and then back up at Kakashi. "I've watched you Kakashi. All this time with Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and even Sai... You're good with them."

"I failed them repeatedly, how is that good?" Sai he couldn't take credit for, that was Tenzou and Naruto.

"Parents aren't perfect but in the end when you look at the effect they had... you can see if they were a good parent." Iruka smiled and tilted his head just a little so he could kiss the top of the baby's head.

The motion drew Kakashi's attention down again and he smiled under the mask at the sight of the baby asleep on his shoulder, her tiny fist balled up in the blue fabric of his shirt. "What's her name?"

"Sumi... Kimura. Both of her parents were killed." Iruka frowned then kissed the sleeping baby again.

"Kimura?" Kakashi raised a curious eyebrow. "As in Atsushi Kimura?"

Iruka nodded. "I was thinking about it before..."

Kakashi sighed then leaned forward and kissed Iruka's forehead. "I'm sorry. You should have just told me." The arms around Kakashi's waist tightened, the pieces falling into place. "He was your sensei Iruka. If you'd told me she was his I would have said yes."

"It wasn't just that... I didn't want you to think it was." The chunin looked up, brown eyes furrowed and his lips pressed together tightly for a moment. "Don't say yes just because of who she is."

The frustration was obvious but of everything it was what made Kakashi relax. "It does factor into it whether you want it to or not." He watched Iruka's face fall and resisted the urge to kiss him. "But.." Kakashi smiled, the corner of his eye crinkling. "I wouldn't have asked her name if I wasn't already considering it."

Iruka grinned then leaned forward again and kissed Kakashi lightly over the mask. "I love you," he whispered, his lips still brushing Kakashi's through the fabric.

"Mmhm..." It was an agreement as much as it was his way of saying the feeling was mutual. "I could still break her you know." Deep inside he was still terrified of that even if it wasn't as all-consuming as it had been when Iruka had pushed the baby at him the first time.

"If you drop her I'll be there to catch her."


	7. Reasons

Title: Reasons  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Are you married / engaged / considering it? If so, would you wear rings?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

Shinobi didn't always get married even when they fell in love, even when they were as close as it got without the ceremony. Iruka had considered it once, back when Naruto had taken the chunin exams the first time. He hadn't even been dating anyone at the time but when he'd realized Naruto was growing up he'd wanted something... somebody to care about. It had seemed like the answer to his loneliness.

Then everything had erupted into chaos and he hadn't had time to think about it. Months had passed and he'd forgotten for awhile.

Even when Naruto left though, he didn't consider it again. It didn't cross his mind because he wasn't lonely. Somewhere between making repairs and dealing with the day to day things he'd started spending time with Kakashi. So even when he wasn't busy... he wasn't alone.

Iruka looked down at the single dog tag that Kakashi had dropped into his open palm. "Marry you?"

"In a sense at least... yes. We don't have to have the ceremony if you don't want to." Kakashi's fingers closed around Iruka's, hiding the bit of metal from view. "If something happens to me or... you..." He swallowed audibly and tightened his hold around around Iruka's waist. "I want you to be the first to know if something happens. You should be the one they come tell if I get hurt and you're the one I want them to ask if there's ever a decision that has to be made and I can't make it."

It sounded like such a dark reason to get married but Iruka wasn't surprised by that, he just hadn't expected Kakashi to ask. He knew what it meant though and he turned his head so he could see Kakashi's face. "You've thought pretty hard about this haven't you?"

Kakashi nodded then rested his chin against Iruka's shoulder.

"Why the dog tag and not a ring?" Since it wasn't a spur of the moment question then there was a reason for it.

"Well you'll have to give me one of yours but I've carried that with me for as long as I've been a shinobi. It's a part of me." Kakashi's cheeks tinged pink at the explanation. "Besides if I'm wearing one of yours they'll know who to bring it back to."

"Ah... so when we're apart a piece of you will always be with me." Iruka couldn't help the smile and he pressed a kiss to Kakashi's cheek.

Kakashi smiled. "The reverse is true too. You'll always be there next to my heart, reminding me that I need to make it home or that you will."

"Mm... you're such a hopeless romantic."

Shinobi didn't always get married... but sometimes they did. 


	8. The True Skills Of Umino Iruka

Title: The true skill of Umino Iruka - FORMSPRING  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: What is your favorite thing about the other person?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

Kakashi leaned back against the wall and watched as team after team handed in their report. It amazed him that no matter how beat down and sad they looked the chunin could smile and say something even if it was just a slightly teary 'thank you' and the person's mood would change completely. Nobody else had quite the same effect. The simplest smile could make that hopeless, drowning, _ache_... bearable. The words, the expressions, the emotions behind them were always there, always honest, and always visible. He wondered where the younger man had learned that. _'Who taught you how to do that?'_

Slowly the room emptied. The two other chunin on duty disappeared with promises of bringing food and coffee back. They were alone and for a long moment they watched each other from across the room, neither saying a word. The unasked question of what Kakashi was doing, hung in the air.

"Who taught you how to do that?" The words were out before Kakashi could think about how they sounded.

Iruka blinked at him, seemingly surprised by the question. "Taught me what?"

"Where did you learn that? The..." Kakashi paused trying to think exactly how to describe what Iruka did. "How do you always know what to say?"

"I don't. I just..." Iruka tilted his head down, his fingers running along the edge of a report still sitting in front of him before looking back up. "It's a lot of different things. I see a kid come back and some of them don't have anyone so I think about what I would want my parents to say and I say that." He smiled softly and set the paper aside. "Even if they failed I want them to know I'm glad they're back. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone fails. It hurts when we do but as long as they come back... that's what's important."

It was what a parent would say and it explained why the younger shinobi looked at Iruka the way they did and Kakashi nodded his understanding. He walked over and set his own report in front of Iruka. "You do that with the older ones too? Pretend we're all little kids?"

Laughing Iruka shook his head. "Sometimes," he admitted still chuckling softly under his breath. "With ones like you I think about the kinds of things we're asked to do. I think of the things I don't have to do as often, or in some cases ever, because of my responsibilities with the academy. I think about it and-" Iruka took the report, not really looking at it. "-how can I not be grateful? How can I not be in awe of how hard they work? Of all that they do?"

Kakashi smiled and closed his uncovered eye. It was what he should have expected from the chunin and he didn't doubt for a second the honesty in the words. Opening his eye, he leaned forward, looked the younger man in the eyes and then smiled again. His eye crinkled in the characteristic way, a well-practiced but honest expression for him. "Thank you, Iruka-Sensei."

"For what?" Iruka asked, his voice a mix of confusion and amusement or possibly embarrassment by the slightly nervous chuckle in it.

"For all you do. My Sensei is the only other man I knew capable of what you do." It wasn't until that moment that he realized why Iruka stood out to him, who Iruka reminded him of. That smile, that openness... and subtle sharpness about others that quite possible went beyond even Ibiki's skills at least when it came to making the other person feel better.

Iruka's cheeks darkened, the scar on them standing out against the bright pink flush.

Kakashi stepped back and turned to go. He was strangely reluctant to do so.

"Kakashi-san..."

He turned and raised a questioning eyebrow at the chunin, asking, without voicing the question, what he wanted.

"Uhm..." Iruka smiled brightly, the blush still bright on his cheeks. "...see you around."

It was obviously not what he'd been going to say but Kakashi smiled anyway and nodded. He definitely wanted to see the other again. Maybe then Iruka would tell him what he'd been about to say.


	9. What Really Matters

AN: Sorry I've been gone for like a month but well family has been up and I can't write smut with them around and plus I was so swamped I didn't have time and then so drained that for the last week I needed a break from everything but I'm back.

Title: What Really Matters

Pairing: KakaIruSummary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring

Question: What's the worst topic/thing you've ever argued about that it made the two of you kind of nearly broke up?

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

It didn't matter. That's what Iruka told himself and he 'almost' believed it. He wasn't dead and Kakashi had said it... 'all' of his important people were dead. Iruka tightened his headband and let out a breath.  
"Konohamaru! Get down from there, right this instant unless you want to be scrubbing the academy floors while I grade papers!" Strange how automatic the response was after so many attempts by Naruto to escape. He didn't even have to stop and think up the elaborate threats, they just came out no matter how distracted he really was.

His problem student stuck his tongue out and climbed down from the cabinet that sat directly below a vent. The pre-genin stalked over to his chair and sat down, loudly.  
Normally the sulking would have earned a certain amount of amusement from Iruka and the class but today his mood was so far in the hole that it must have registered with the class and as a result there wasn't a single snicker or smirk in response. Even Hanabi's nearly habitual 'I told you, you'd get caught' was absent.

"It doesn't even matter," Iruka muttered under his breath. He walked around the room, handing out the homework sheets. 'He doesn't matter.' Iruka wanted to believe it, they hadn't said it was anything. They'd been on how many dates? Officially? None. Unofficially? He'd lost count after twenty or so run ins that lead to dinner and eventually somewhere along the line sex. That's all it was apparently and he was glad that he'd never said it, never tried to make it anything else. It wasn't breaking up, if you weren't even dating and you couldn't be heartbroken if you weren't in love. For that matter he wasn't even sure you could even fight about it when it wasn't anything.

For all he knew Kakashi wasn't even aware he'd overheard him since he'd been doing his best to avoid him. He'd changed the class schedule, moved lunch up an hour early and taken them out for training after. Iruka sat down at his desk and stared at the clock. There was still ten minutes left in the day and it was the one thing he couldn't change. If he let them go early everyone would know something was wrong. The worst part was that if Kakashi wanted to find him it wasn't like it would have been 'that' hard to do so, so maybe he didn't want to find him. As much as it bothered him right then Iruka thought that despite the fact that he was clearly avoiding Kakashi it bothered him that the other hadn't even noticed. It was like a confirmation that he didn't mean anything. It bothered him that it mattered. If he didn't change the last part of his schedule and Kakashi still didn't come to find him...

Iruka closed his eyes, rubbed his temples with his thumbs, and told himself again that it wouldn't matter. Despite his little self-assurances it was all he could do to wait for the bell. Then when it finally rang and the last kid flew out the door he couldn't move. It was as though if he stood up and walked out that door he'd prove himself right...

"Not going to sprint out the door and offer to take mission desk duty or watch duty or just generally find somewhere else to be?"

The voice startled him and he resisted the urge to look up. "Why do you care?" He took another deep, shakey breath, swallowed, and looked up. The fact that he hadn't registered Kakashi's presence until the man had spoken proved exactly how absorbed he was in his own... thoughts.

Kakashi stopped in his approach of the chunin's desk. His half mask and the headband canted over his left eye hid any other reaction to the words.

'Evidently you don't. Did you even know I was mad at you? Is it just now falling into place or are you just confused as to why I would be.' Iruka stared at him, his lips parted, the thoughts on the tip of his tongue. "Forget it, it doesn't matter." He shoved himself away from the desk and picked up his bag. "You're right I should just go find somewhere else to be." Turning, he headed for the door and tried to ignore the dampness of his cheeks and the ache in the pit of his stomach.  
"I didn't mean it like it sounded..."

Iruka stiffened, stopped, but didn't turn around. "Exactly how else could you have meant it?"

"I just... I wanted him to understand." Kakashi sighed loudly.

Iruka spun around and stormed towards Kakashi. "What exactly? You wanted him to understand what?" He knew he was yelling, that he was being unreasonable. He knew it and he couldn't stop because it hurt and he'd spent all day trying to pretend it didn't. Iruka threw his hands up in the air then rubbed his palms against his eyes and down his face.

"That we've all lost people, that some of us have lost... everyone we've ever loved. That it hurts and it makes us angry. That he's not alone." He ran a hand through his hair but didn't touch Iruka. "I didn't realize how it might sound. I'm not very good at these kinds of things." Kakashi looked away but didn't move. "I stay because... even though I've lost everyone I thought maybe eventually I'd... find somebody else to..."

"Oh..." Iruka closed his mouth, opened it, then closed it again and looked down. He felt like an idiot for asking but he needed to know if that eventually was still an eventually. Taking another deep breath, Iruka looked up. "Does that mean..." Before he could finish the question Kakashi kissed him. Hand on his cheek, mask down, lips locked firmly against his, and the same intoxicating slow brush of tongue against lips and teeth and his tongue that had lured him into Kakashi's bed in the first place.

When Kakashi finally pulled away it was only just barely. "I thought it was obvious."

Maybe it should have been but Iruka hadn't thought about it until Kakashi had said what he had and he'd realized how it hurt. "It is now."**  
**


	10. Nobody Is You

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Title: Nobody Is You

Pairing: KakaIru

Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring (the username is KakaIru)

Question: Does it bother you a bit or a lot when your partner has to sleep around on missions? Like kunoichi seduction work?

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

Slipping his shoes off, Iruka dropped his bag beside the door and headed for the kitchen and living room area. "I'm home." The statement was unnecessary in that Kakashi would have both heard him and registered his presence the moment he'd arrived. He said it anyway because the house was quiet and Kakashi hadn't been at the door to greet him despite the fact that he was there. It set his nerves on end no matter how many logical explanations sprang to mind. His lover could be sleeping or something else completely unavoidable and necessary.

Sliding into the room silently Iruka discovered Kakashi quite awake and draped across the couch reading. "New book?" he asked, hoping more than a little that, that was the case.

The mop of silver hair didn't so much as twitch but the book was held up a little higher to reveal a much abused copy of Icha Icha.

"Oh." The uncomfortable feeling settled in Iruka's gut and he tried to shove the feeling away as he slipped the standard issue vest off and dropped it and the wraps from around his calves into the laundry basket. "Did you have a mission while I was away?" His hair tie was removed and dropped on the counter but he didn't walk over.

There was a long silence before the 'no' finally came and then that was all that came.

It 'was' his mission then that had Kakashi upset. He sighed, watching Kakashi turn the pages. From the new position he could see his lover had his mask on, covering the lower half of his face. Kakashi usually left it off when they were alone. Other than that one tiny little fact nothing seemed out of place and maybe that's what made it all the more dramatic. If not for 'that' fact he'd have looked relaxed with the way his lanky figure was draped casually down the length of the tan couch wearing the loose black uniform pants and nothing else.

Iruka didn't go on the missions often and hadn't really thought about it until he'd gotten this one. No, that was wrong... he'd thought about it he just hadn't wanted to and he'd wanted to talk about it even less. It had even occurred to him that Kakashi might already know about... his training and secretly he'd hoped both that he did and that he didn't. Kakashi already knowing would have meant he'd been one of the ANBU Iruka had worked with on the seduction missions which would mean not having to explain but it would also mean Kakashi had seen him... like that. The thought made him feel sick. When he'd been assigned to this mission Kakashi hadn't been back from his own mission and by the time he arrived they really hadn't had the time to discuss much of anything so Iruka had let him read the mission scroll while he packed. It had been an uncomfortable goodbye to say the least but Kakashi has kissed him and held him and he'd really thought Kakashi understood.

There were things about missions nobody liked. Things they didn't talk about after the mission was over except in the vague terms and detatched details of mission reports and debriefings. When they weren't on the mission those details were gone like they'd never happened.

Iruka wasn't ANBU, would never have the talent for it or the nerve for that matter. His 'talents' were in his charisma. People liked him, they trusted him... which made it that much worse. He preferred to avoid thinking about the fact that he'd just fucked a noble, their wife, or some other individual with the 'right' information. Iruka felt like he'd betrayed Kakashi not just because of what he'd done for the sake of the mission but because he hadn't even warned him about the possibility. Some shinobi wouldn't date somebody trained in seduction and it was easy to understand why. People edged around the subject but Iruka knew the logic, had even heard it from people who didn't know he was listening or didn't know what he did. The 'reason' was that they 'wouldn't know if the person was pretending because of some order to test them or if it was real.'

"You should have told me."

The sound of Kakashi's voice startled him. There was a definite note of anger to it and Iruka looked down and away, the guilt settling in his gut like a dead weight. His chest felt like somebody was slowly tightening restraints around it that made it hard to breathe. "I know." Forcing himself to move, Iruka walked over and knelt beside the couch. The move was an unconscious one and if he'd taken a moment to think about it he'd have realized exactly how submissive his positioning was, how practiced it might look but the only thoughts that seemed to register was the need to be near Kakashi and the fear he was going to lose him.

Unable to look Kakashi in the eye he focused on one of the scars that stretched across the pale skin of his boyfriend's chest. His eyes traced the white line almost obsessively. "I'm sorry I kept it from you." There was a soft rustle of pages and nearly inaudible tap as the book was set down somewhere Iruka couldn't see without look up. He guessed it was probably the end table by the way the muscles of Kakashi's chest stretched for the brief moment.

"Is this the first one you've been on since we started dating?" Kakashi asked, reaching out and forcibly turning Iruka's face toward him with one hand, the other dropping beside him.

It wasn't until that moment that Iruka realized Kakashi didn't have his headband on. He flinched slightly but didn't look away, if Kakashi wanted to know he wasn't lying he wouldn't deny him that. Not if it meant he stayed. "No. There was one other, around the third or fourth date." Iruka hadn't been certain it was going anywhere then so he hadn't said anything about it.

Kakashi's brow creased together, his jaw tightening under the mask. "How would you feel if I hadn't told you I was ANBU until right before a mission?"

Iruka opened his mouth to respond and realized Kakashi wasn't angry so much as he was hurt. It occurred to him that the sharringan being uncovered was likely more to see if he was okay than some kind of test. "I..."

"You think it's less dangerous? You carry fewer weapons, you're not at the same level as an ANBU even if you have them for backup, and you're a chunin." His voice was tight and his words clipped slightly.

The last bit dug into his pride and he stiffened slightly. "I could be a special jounin if I tested." He could in traps but it would mean giving up his position at the academy and unless the hokage made him, he wouldn't do it.

"That's not the point," Kakashi growled. "You were already packing when I got home and I didn't even hear it from you. I got to read a scroll and hold you for all of few minutes before saying goodbye."

"When you didn't come greet me I thought... you wouldn't say anything or look at me and the book and the mask and..." He'd honestly believed Kakashi was going to leave him.

Kakashi sighed, shook his head, then dropped his hand from Iruka's chin and reached over to grab his hand, twisting and pulling him up onto the couch beside him. "Iruka if I was going to leave I'd already have been gone. Think about it. If I were going would I be laying half naked on the couch reading?

Iruka shifted, settling himself more comfortably into Kakashi's arms. "I guess it sound kind of stupid when you put it like that but... the mask... you don't wear it at home."

"I'm not usually upset or agitated at home," he explained before reaching up to pull the cloth down over his chin.

"So it's like a security blanket?" Iruka teased, smiling a little forcibly.

Kakashi chuckled softly and stole a quick kiss. "I guess that makes you my teddy bear."

It was reassuring and who could complain about being something that's cherished? He hated to ruin the mood and he didn't want to talk about it but they were and it was better to do so now than let something build up. "You're not upset though that I'm trained in seduction?"

"I won't lie it does bother me. The thought of anyone touching you..." There was no denying the possessiveness in the expression, the way Kakashi's arms tightened around him as his eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened again. Then he closed them and took a deep breath. "I will never like you going on that kind of mission but I know there's a difference between doing something because you enjoy it and doing it because it's an order." He was ANBU and the statement merely echoed that fact.

The acceptance and the fact that Kakashi really did understand made Iruka feel guilty all over again. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Kakashi smiled and kissed Iruka's forehead. "So what'd they look like?"

Iruka smiled back, a little surprised by the question. "Fat and ugly and smelly."

"Liar." The tone was teasing and he was still smiling though.

"Nobody is you, Kakashi." Iruka spoke the words softly, more serious than a moment before. "It doesn't matter what they look like or if they're nice or not because they will never ever be you. They would never look like you or smell like you or taste like you or feel like you." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kakashi's softly. The tension in his body eased at the act. "Nobody will ever make me feel the way you do. Ever."

-End-


	11. Understanding Friends Or Not

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Title: Understanding Friends... Or Not

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Pairing: KakaIru, AsuKure

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Characters: Asuma (POV) and Kakashi (mentions Iruka and Kurenai)

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Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring

********

Question: Why does Kakashi like Iruka's butt so much?

********

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

********

**In Collaboration With: **Kita_the_spaz

********

**Dedicated to: **Megyal because her wicked little mind is what inspired Kita's wickedness *much love to both*

Kakashi: You've seen it. I think it's kind of self explanatory.

Iruka: ... Don't look at me. He's just weird like that.

Kakashi: That's because you can't see your ass and well it's your ass but anyone else who's seen your ass would get it.

Iruka: *pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs* He's a jounin, they're all weird and insane.

******

* * *

**

Asuma furrowed his brow and knocked the ash off his cigarette. The dim light of the bar drifted through the haze of smoke and he took a drink of his sake and set the glass back down. "I don't get it... what's so great about his ass?"

"It's this perfect shape that fits my hands exactly." Kakashi held his hands up and squeezed an imaginary ass, the metal on the black leather gloves catching the light. "You should look the next time he's at the public baths when you are."

Wrinkling his nose, Asuma shook his head. "No thank you." He had no interest in men or their asses but lately it seemed like his friend was a bit... obsessed with them, one in particular. Not that he would argue against the man liking the chunin since it seemed to be good for them both but every time he turned around the guy was staring at it, making comments about it, and even _comparing_ it to others. "It's another guy's ass, I just don't see the attraction. I mean a woman's ass is soft and curvy so I get that but a guy's... well it's too muscular, there's no give, nothing to hold onto."

"There is to!" Kakashi protested. "That's what's so great about his, there's just enough there that you can squeeze and he fits perfectly against me." He closed his visible eye and it crinkled at the corner giving it a slightly curved look; something that had become well known as 'Kakashi's smile'. "And he has this ticklish spot right on the inside where it meets the top of his thigh..."

"Oh fuck man, I really didn't need _or want_ to know that," Asuma groaned and ran a hand through his hair. He took another long drag on his cigarette. Kakashi listened to him talk about Kurenai so it was only fair that he not complain it was his own fault of course for opening his mouth. Though Kakashi was bi so it still seemed a little less fair. They were friends though and that's what friends did, they listened to each other go on and on and _on_ about their significant others. He liked Iruka, he even thought he was good for Kakashi, but sometimes the details were things he'd much rather have skipped knowing. Most of the time he tried to pretend the pony-tailed, doe-eyed chunin _was_ a girl even if the man, as far as he was concerned, looked nothing like a girl. Kakashi never seemed to notice his discomfort, that or the man did and enjoyed seeing it. Asuma wasn't quite sure which.

Kakashi grinned wide enough it was visible even under the blue fabric of his mask then picked up his own cup of sake. "All those muscles mean he's tighter than any woman though you should get a little kinky with Kurenai then maybe you'll see the difference."

Asuma spluttered slightly then shook his head. "That's gross. There are places that it shouldn't go. I mean you're welcome to have your fun but I'm _never_ doing that."

"Mah don't be such a prude." Kakashi set down an empty glass and poured another.

If he didn't know better Asuma would have thought Kakashi had said it just to distract him so he could get a drink but no he was pretty sure Kakashi was serious. "I'm not a prude."

"Yes you are and you don't know what you're missing." Kakashi shrugged. "Not that, that's a bad thing because if you did then you'd understand what's so amazing about his ass and you might try to trade up."

"Oh shut it, forget I asked." He laughed though, it was good to see his friend happy even if it would never make sense to him.

* * *

Normally, the slight shift in Asuma's position wouldn't have meant anything, but to Kakashi's trained eye, it spoke volumes. "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

Asuma took a long drag from his cigarette and exhaled slowly. "Mebbe you should start running now. You might even get as far as the door."

"Kakashi..." If ever there was a sound of impending doom, it was in the way Kakashi's name rolled off of Iruka's tongue, like the first rumble of an avalanche.

Kakashi made a small sound that (he would later deny vigorously) bore an uncanny resemblance to a frightened squeak and made the seals for a teleportation jutsu with unseemly haste.

Iruka's fingers lashed out and stopped him before he could finish. "Hatake-san, I think it's time we had a brief chat." Without waiting for Kakashi to finish his garbled protest, Iruka bodily hauled him up out of his chair. "Please do excuse us, Asuma-san, I won't trouble you with our conversation," he said politely. Then his eyes darted past Asuma's shoulder and he flashed a vulpine grin that held leagues of mischief. "I think you have your own troubles to contend with."

Despite his words, Iruka made no move to depart, his fingers still painfully tight around Kakashi's wrist.

Asuma nearly inhaled his cigarette when Kurenai's voice purred in his ear. "But Kakashi's right, you never know what you're missing unless you try it, Asuma-kun."

Kakashi almost laughed, but a wary glance at the chuunin at his side forestalled that idea.

Iruka's smile really was a scary thing.

Nodding to both Asuma and Kurenai, Iruka turned and bodily hauled Kakashi away.

Kakashi heard Kurenai chuckle softly, "What a cute couple," but then his attention was distracted by the delicious flex of Iruka's ass.


	12. A Question Of Loyalty

Title: A Question Of Loyalty

Pairing: KakaIruSummary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring

Question: For the pack (Iruka+Kakashi+Ninkes), How is the alfa? & Kakashi summons dogs we all know that, but has Iruka signed with any creatures? (btw I copy the questions exactly so I don't fix errors in them at all)

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

Dedicated to: KITA! Because I adore her and she has totally rotted er influenced my view of the dogs. AND whoever asked the questions of course though I have no clue who it was. I combined the two because they just worked so well together. *coughs* Kind of wrote it with Blood for Blood in mind because that's what I always think of when I think of the dogs. I love that story to bits so if you want to understand more about how I see the dogs cuz that's it exactly...

* * *

Most of the time the pack took Iruka's side and he appreciated it. It made him feel special. Uuhei in particular tended to back him up when Kakashi was being annoying or even on the rare occasion they actually fought. Pakkun even joking said once that he was 'the Boss's Boss'. _Most_ of the time, around the house, they listened to him.

As much as they loved him though, Iruka knew deep down even Uuhei would side with Kakashi if anything ever happened to call their true loyalty into question. If anyone had seriously suggested it was any other way he'd have set them straight. He'd seen the proof enough to know. It was the little things that proved it. Whenever one was left behind to guard him they were anxious and always, always watching for Kakashi's return. When Kakashi was upset they never failed curl up on his lap, press against him, nuzzle his hands... They had such an affinity with the copy-nin that Iruka wondered sometimes how anyone could question who was ultimately in charge.

"Come on Iruka, just sign it." Kakashi pushed the scroll across the table.

Iruka continued to stare open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the scroll for a while longer before finally managing to look back up at Kakashi then around at the dogs. "But..."

"Mah, stop thinking so much." He scratched his head and flushed before grabbing Iruka's hand and pressing a kunai into it. "Like I've said before, they listen to you just as much as they do me, _sometimes_-" Kakashi shot a look at Uuhei, narrowed eyes and furrowed brow. His unmasked lips were visibly turned up at the corners however which softened the 'glare' considerably. "-even better."

"Are you sure I'm not-" Iruka hesitated to voice the concern that was eating away at him, afraid of what the answer would be if Kakashi actually realized what it would mean. "-intruding on your relationship with them?"

Kakashi's gaze returned to his and his eyes widened slightly. "Iruka-" he squeezed both of his hands over the one of Iruka's that he'd pushed the kunai into. "-listen to me. You _are_ pack and if we didn't all completely agree on that fact I wouldn't have suggested it. If something happened to you it would hurt them as much as it would hurt me and I know if anything happened to any of them you'd feel it just as much as I would. You're not intruding on anything and _this_ is just a formality and well a way to make it easier for them to reach you should something happen. It would make all of us feel better. So please just sign the damn scroll already."

It wasn't until he sniffled that he realized he had tears in his eyes and the moment he did he felt his cheeks warm considerably. Whether it sounded sappy or made him look like an over-emotional idiot or not, Iruka felt... better. The reassurance of Kakashi's words and the way the dogs shifted to press up against him made the reality of what they were asking sink in. He didn't know what to say so he pulled his hand free from Kakashi and cut the tip of his finger.


	13. Apple

Title: Apple  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Iruka, do you have a teaching assistant? Have you ever been one, and if so whose? Kakashi, have you ever taught in a classroom setting- if yes what did you teach?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)  
Dedicated to: Seiizuki

* * *

"No. Hey... just give me that... You're going to break it." Iruka snatched at the glass apple and missed.

Kakashi tossed it in the air again. "I will not. I'm not clumsy."

"I'm not saying you are but if you are playing with that you won't be paying attention to the twenty-five extremely energetic and very eager ten year olds who will be arriving any minute..." He snatched at the apple again. Missed again. "...and I don't care how great you think you are they will gang up on you and you'll drop it and that will be the end of that."

"I'm a 'elite' ninja a few little pregenin are not going to make me drop anything." He pulled his mask down with one hand and stuck his tongue out. "Especially if _you_ can't."

Iruka narrowed his eyes at his lover and grabbed Kakashi's hand holding the mask. "I'm not trying to make you drop it I'm trying to keep you from doing that."

Leaning forward Kakashi pressed his lips to Iruka's. "I don't think my boyfriend trust me."

"If you break my apple..." He kissed Kakashi and reached for the apple only to have it pulled outside his reach again. "Give it to me now."

"Oh Sensei, I didn't know you had it in you." Kakashi slid his hand free then reached down to cup Iruka's ass and squeezed.

His cheeks warmed and Iruka fisted Kakashi's mask in one hand and reached for the apple with the other. "If you don't give me the damn apple I will find a use for it as something _other_ than a paper weight and I will _not_ be nice about it."

Kakashi pushed him backwards against the desk and used one arm to lift him up at the same moment he relented and handed the apple over. "Kinky but I don't think we have time for that just yet..." He dipped his head and nipped at the underside of Iruka's chin.

"Get off me you horny, crazy-assed bastard." Iruka shoved at his shoulder uselessly.

"I'll sense them before they get here," Kakashi muttered, ignoring him and continuing his molestations. He nipped at the tan skin of Iruka's throat and slid the fingers of his now unoccupied hand into the front of Iruka's pants.

Iruka stifled a groan and pushed at Kakashi's shoulder again. "I don't care! We don't have time for this and if you get me hard right before my students get back from lunch I _will_ murder you in so many different ways that Ibiki will be impressed at my creativity."

"Mm... sounds fun," he purred, fondling Iruka through the fabric of his boxers as his fingers searched for the opening in the front.

"Fucking asshole I mean it! Get off of me!" Iruka pushed with both of his hands, the apple still clutched in one.

The sheer force put behind the shove sent Kakashi back-peddling away from the desk. His hand still quite tangled in Iruka's pants pulled the chunin forward with him, throwing them both off balance as they tumbled towards the students' desks.

In his haste to catch himself the apple slipped from Iruka's fingers and went flying. He watched horrified as it rose up into the air and then down to crash against the hard wood floors, splintering into hundreds of shards. They landed a moment later, him onto of Kakashi and the man's hand _still_down the front of his pants. "Kami Kakashi, you fucking idiot I told you you'd break my apple!"

"Ooooh Iruka-sensei cussed!" came the chorus of roughly twenty ten-year-olds from the doorway.

A pop of chakra and Iruka dropped the last few inches to the floor. Seething, he closed his eyes and ground his teeth together. "I'm _going_ to kill him."


	14. Improvisation and Perversion

Title: Improvisation and Perversion  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: When you met Kakashi, Iruka, did he live up to the rumors?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

Iruka had heard that he was an insane, lazy, perverted, genius with a penchant for throwing plans out the window with no sense to self preservation and they were right. The man was a jounin so the first went without saying. He had seen him around town seemingly doing nothing except reading the perverted novels Jiraiya wrote. Like everyone he knew that Kakashi had only been five when he graduated, six when chunin, and barely a teen when he started commanding squads. But it wasn't unitl Kakashi had ordered them to leave him and go on ahead despite the fact that there were a dozen enemy nin closing in on them that Iruka knew _everything_ he'd heard about the man was true.

Given the circumstances he couldn't say that he had any room to talk on the last point.

"Idiot." Kakashi growled pulling the kunai free and sliding his hand over the cut before pushing green healing chakra into it. "What possessed you to come back when your captain ordered you not to?"

"I couldn't..." Iruka coughed, red splattered on Kakashi's vest.

Even with the mask and his hitai-ate cover his left eye, the furrowed brow gave away the anger on the jounin's face. "Shut up you moron before you cough up a damn lung."

He chuckled and broke off into another fit of coughs. "I didn't-" Iruka gasped, "-want to leave you-" The words practically wheezed out. "-behind." He couldn't explain it but he'd known if he didn't go back Kakashi wouldn't make it home. "It felt wrong."

Kakashi looked at him, his visible eye going wide for a moment then he shook himself and his earlier irritated expression returned. He wrapped another bandage over Iruka's shoulder and tied it off. "Fucking chunins disregarding rules..."

Iruka wondered at the pain in those words, knew they were aimed at him and yet that at the same time they weren't.

"Throwing yourself in front of somebody, like some human shield is the most idiotic defense I've ever seen." Kakashi moved to crouch in front of him. "Get on and give me your hands."

Idiotic or not, Kakashi was okay and that's what mattered. It was all he could think of then. The village couldn't afford to lose somebody like Kakashi and Iruka didn't quite know why but the thought of the 'insane, lazy, perverted, genius' dying bothered him. Watching Kakashi fight after he was down though was something Iruka would never forget. It was like watching a god of death and grace, he moved with speed and skill Iruka could never hope to attain. The ferocious way he protected Iruka from every attack made him wonder how he could have thought that he needed _Iruka_ to protect _him_. Doing as he was asked, Iruka smiled and wrapped his arms and legs around the broad back and narrow waist.

Kakashi hauled him onto his back and took off through the trees, bounding through the branches with unnatural speed.

Iruka closed his eyes and started drifting off despite the uncomfortable position, his legs slipping a little from where they were hooked over Kakashi's hips.

"If you die on me I'll resurrect you and kill you again myself," Kakashi growled.

"Mm..." Iruka hummed slipping a little further down Kakashi's back.

"Umino-san! If you fall asleep on me I'll consider it an invitation."

The odd threat caught his limited attention and Iruka felt his cheeks heat up. "If you try anything I'll come back as a ghoul and cut it off," he joked, forcing himself to stay awake.

Kakashi laughed. "That's more like it, stay with me Umino."

It was a long run home and every time Iruka started to slip off into sleep Kakashi would threaten him and after that stopped working out-right grope and molest him. It was the most mystifying and mortifying experience Iruka could think of to date involving injuries and he knew he'd never live it down.

When Iruka woke in the hospital the first thing that came to mind was Kakashi the second was the man's perverted improvisation for keeping him awake and he wondered if he'd ever be able to look him in the face again.


	15. Punishments And Rewards

Title: Punishments and Rewards  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Oneshot written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Have you ever had public sex?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

The evening had started out very different than it was now and _very_ different from what he'd planned. His day had been filled with screaming kids and screaming _at_ jounin. His intentions had been to get a drink, get something to eat, and get some sleep, preferably in that order. He'd gotten as far as ordering a drink before his plans were yanked away from him.

Raidou had bought his drink then dragged him forcibly to a table in the back that was surrounded by jounin. He hadn't asked Iruka to join them so there had been no opportunity to politely refuse. Instead he'd smiled and said that they were buying his drinks and to feel free to ask for anything.

Several of those sitting there he'd been yelling at less than thirty minutes prior and Iruka tried to turn and flee only Raidou had pushed him into the booth and slid in beside him, blocking his escape. It was an obvious trap but he hadn't been given a choice except to step into it. His mistake, he realized now, was downing that first drink. At the time, he'd panicked and it had been a reactionary response to the pounding headache he had getting ten times worse when he realized exactly how royally he was fucked. Another drink was set in front of him before he'd even set down his glass. Iruka remembered frowning at it and being determined not to pick it up.

Genma had leaned across the table and pushed the glass closer. "Iruka... we like you."

That smile was burned in his brain now. The slight twitch of the senbon as Genma's teeth had clamped down on it, the gleam in his eye, and teeth that didn't accompany the man's usual smirk were so ingrained that he was sure he would see it in his nightmares if they didn't kill him. They wouldn't of course but he knew better than anyone exactly what you could do to a comrade without even laying a hand on them.

He'd made the mistake then of looking around the table. Ibiki's amused expression had been even less comforting. Asuma and Kurenai were smiling and not in a sympathetic fashion that suggested they would help him. Gai sat on the outside, grinning _without_ the 'youthful' sparkle which just spoke of doom especially given that the man had yet to say a single thing. It was disconcerting to say the least and he'd silently wished the man would start spouting off about youth and springtime. When he didn't get his private wish he'd done the only thing he could think of and downed the second glass.

Despite being drunk off his ass he knew now that it'd been a mistake to do that. Maybe it had even been _the_ mistake.

Ibiki simply leaned forward and taken Iruka's glass from him then replaced it with his own. "Drink up, Sensei, you've had a long day."

Being scared shitless while trying to hide it was much easier to do drunk so he did exactly that. None of them were weak drinks and the adrenaline was definitely making things worse. "What do you guys want. Just spit it out already. If you're going to do something just do it already."

Asuma sucked on his cigarette then smirked and blew the smoke out slowly. "Two ways this can go."

"Truth or dare, Iruka-kun?" Kurenai asked, smiling sweetly beside Asuma.

Iruka swallowed and down the glass that seemed to magically appear in front of him. "Truth."

Genma leaned back in the chair and grinned. "So Iruka... truth, truth, truth... Are you sure you don't want a dare? Last chance to change your mind."

Tilting the cup of sake back, Iruka downed it. "I'm sure that either way I'm screwed but the truth is the 'truth' so it is hopefully slightly less dangerous to my ego, sanity, or health." He knew there were things he'd done that he would very much rather not have know but jounin were insane so it was the safer of the two choices. Some part of his brain asked some other part of his brain, both of which were entirely too drunk, how he'd gotten himself into this.

"Ever had sex in public?" Genma asked sliding his own glass in front of Iruka.

He didn't touch the new glass and instead let out the breath he'd been holding. "No."

Genma nudged the glass and smirked. "Drink it, wouldn't want it to go to waste."

It was a good thing that it was the end of the week because Iruka had no doubt he was going to have a hangover in the morning. _'Maybe that's their plan, get me so wasted I spend tomorrow wishing I was dead. I suppose it could be worse.'_ He glared at the glass suspiciously for a moment than picked it up and downed it since they obviously weren't going to let him leave without getting him drunk.

Raidou slid out of the booth and motioned with his hand that Iruka could do the same.

Iruka hesitated, confused and expecting another trap. "That's it?" He wondered if his earlier thought was right though they were underestimating him if they thought he'd let how drunk he was show.

"That's it," Raidou answered, nodding and smiling.

Sliding out of the seat, he stood up, then nearly fell over as the booze he'd downed far too quickly hit him. "Fuck." The floor rushed up at him and he shut his eyes against the impending face plant. Hands reached out, steadying him before he could smack into the floor, and then hauled him upright. Iruka looked around dazed, dizzy, and a little queasy. "Ebisu..."

He looked from Iruka to the table then frowned and pushed him up against the wall. "Sorry." Ebisu whispered the word, grabbed Iruka's wrists and hauled them above his head. Dipping his head he nipped lightly at the caramel skin of Iruka's throat. "Better me than one of them."

Shock washed over him and it took several seconds before he was even able to register that one of his best friends was kissing his neck. The thought was horrifying because he _knew_ Ebisu didn't see him that way and the feeling was mutual. Friends or not they'd never been interested in each other which left only one possibility. He was in on it. Iruka growled at the thought and tried to pull his hands free but the booze was getting to him and he couldn't. "Ebisu." Iruka deliberately pitched his voice to the one he used on students he'd caught causing trouble. "Let go of me _right now_." Each word was very slowly drawn out so that he wouldn't slur them.

Ebisu had always been good at focusing his chakra so he was easily able to pull Iruka's hands together and lock them under one. Chakra backing his grip kept Iruka's hands locked against the wall. "I can't do that." He slipped his free hand down Iruka's chest. "You'll thank me later."

Now, he was utterly furious which was sobering to a degree but not enough to do him much good just enough make him fully aware of how helpless he was. No wonder they wanted him drunk. If he hadn't been he'd have been able get away but as it was he couldn't focus his chakra enough to do even the most minor replacement jutsu. "I swear if you-"

The threat was cut off as Ebisu's brushed over the front of Iruka's pants and he began stroking Iruka through the fabric.

Iruka's eyes widened and he twisted, trying to get away from the feeling. _'I'm going to kill him. I'm going to beat the living shit out of him and THEN kill him.'_ Two loud _thunks_ sounded in the wall and Iruka locked eyes with Raidou. He knew that sound, heard it every day. Kunai hitting wood. He tried to shift his legs and realized that they were pinned to the wall, the fabric resisting the motion. Raidou and realized even before he had that he'd been ready to plant a knee in Ebisu's groin.

Raidou smiled at him and shook his head in a very clear 'on no you don't.'

They thought getting yelled at was bad, he was going to make each and every one of them pay, and pay dearly. He was going to _remind_ them exactly why when he yelled they listened. "Let me fucking go you damn bunch of cowardly, jounin bastards!"

Across the room Kakashi and another jounin with short spikey hair and odd metal headband turned and looked at him.

"Fuck." Iruka bit down on the word. Now that they'd seen his predicament he was sure the two would come over to join in 'the fun'.

Kakashi stood up from his barstool, knocking it over in the process, and stormed over.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Watching Kakashi move towards him with that kind of determination only solidified the thought that he intended payback. Iruka winced and closed his eyes.

The pressure on his wrists disappeared as Ebisu was yanked violently away from him. A loud crash followed.

Iruka opened his eyes and stared dumbfounded for the half second it took before his body realized it no longer had the support it'd had and his knees gave out. Iruka dropped to the floor, his feet sliding with the way the fabric was caught. He swallowed and tried to focus his eyes on the men in front of him.

Kakashi had Ebisu up against the wall to the side. One of his hands was around Ebisu's throat while the other had a kunai in it and was raised so the tip pressed into the soft part under his chin. A table was on it's side along with several chairs.

Even drunk and sitting on the floor of a relatively dark bar, Iruka could tell that Kakashi was _pissed_. The tense way he stood and the killing intent radiating off of him was enough to give it away. Why was eluding him however. Of everyone he probably yelled at Kakashi the most.

"Keep your hands off of him," Kakashi growled. "In case you couldn't tell he _doesn't_ want you touching him."

The shinobi that had been sitting with Kakashi at the bar moved then, rushing towards Kakashi.

Then a moment later, to fast for Iruka to track in his current state Gai was between Tenzou and Kakashi.

"It Does Not Appear That Our Youthful And Gallant Hero Needs Your Assistance!" Gai's statement was followed with his classic good guy pose and blindingly bright smile.

Iruka didn't understand what was going on but he wasn't about to let Kakashi kill Ebisu. He twisted and yanked the kunai pinning him to the wall out then tossed them to the ground and pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. "Kakashhhi-san. Stop!" He stumbled forward, pissed at how uncooperative his legs were being. The name came out sounding odd even to Iruka's ears with too long of 'sh' sound in it. Even his words were slurred, his tongue seemed to big for his mouth. Reaching out he grabbed Kakashi's arm. "Stop!"

Kakashi looked over his shoulder at him for a moment then turned back to Ebisu. "If you-" he turned to glare over his shoulder at the table with the rest of the jounin, "-or anyone ever put your hands on Iruka again I will cut your balls off and feed them to you." He yanked Ebisu forward then shoved hard against the wall and released him.

Still holding Kakashi's arm to keep from falling over, Iruka stumbled from the jarring motion only to be swept up into Kakashi's arms. "Kashhi-san..." Again he fumbled with the name. "Fuck."

"I'm taking you home, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi stated simply, raising his hand and forming the symbol for a teleportation jutsu.

Chakra cracked around them and a moment later Iruka found himself in an apartment he didn't know. There was enough ambient light in the room for him to tell that it wasn't his so he could only assume it was Kakashi's. "Wah?" He didn't trust himself to be able to get the words out right then, still dizzy from the jutsu and the booze. His eyes unfocused and he closed them for a moment.

Kakashi set him down on a bed. "You're staying with me. I don't trust them." Reaching up he pulled his hitai-ate off and then took Iruka's head in his hands. "What the hell were you thinking letting them get you drunk?"

Iruka stared Kakashi in the eyes and his vision burned for a moment he closed them. "Ow."

"Go to sleep Iruka."

He didn't want to sleep, he wanted to go home. "No." Iruka realized he couldn't open his eyes, how heavy his body felt, felt himself leaning over onto the bed and he could even feel the blankets being drawn up over him. Then there was nothing but the darkness of sleep.

* * *

Iruka groaned and rubbed his eyes. His head hurt. "What did I..." The memory of what had happened rushed up and he stopped. He didn't feel like he had a hangover. This headache felt different; more akin to a migraine than an alcohol-induced hangover headache and he didn't feel nauseous. That could be because he wasn't moving, but Iruka suspected that whatever Kakashi had done to him must have prevented that. It was that or he'd simply forgotten a great deal of middle of the night throwing up, but the headache, as much as it hurt, still felt wrong.

"What were you thinking letting them corner you like that?" Kakashi from beside him.

Kakashi wasn't touching him but Iruka could feel the heat radiating off of his body from how close he was. His eyes shot open and he flailed, desperate to get more space between them. "You slept in the bed with me?" he squeaked.

Wrapping his arms around him, Kakashi pinned Iruka's arms down. "I am not sleeping on the floor of my own apartment. Not when there is a perfectly good bed."

"I didn't ask to sleep here!" Iruka pointed out, still struggling.

"Stop it!" Kakashi growled, tightening his hold. "I didn't save you just to do exactly the same thing they were doing."

The tone of Kakashi's voice gave away that he was offended and Iruka winced, feeling guilty. "Sorry."

Kakashi's hold relaxed the moment Iruka stopped thrashing but he didn't let go completely. "Are you..." he hesitated and the visible part of his cheek turned a dark pink.

Iruka blinked. "What?"

"Mah... uh... I..." The pink got darker until it was a bright red then Kakashi released him and shifted away.

The motion wasn't fast enough and Iruka noticed exactly why Kakashi had slid back. "Oh." He coughed and looked away, off to the side. Kakashi was very noticeably aroused.

"Maybe I _should_ have slept on the floor," he said, the tone somewhat apologetic.

Kakashi _had_ saved him and he'd been furious for what they were doing to him so he was right and it was wrong of Iruka to have assumed he'd do anything while he was unconscious and unable to defend himself if he wanted to. "No. You were right there was no reason you should have had to sleep on the floor when I was the one to inconvenience you." Iruka smiled at him, hoping that Kakashi understood that he really was sorry.

"Why were they-" Kakashi furrowed his brow. "-doing whatever they were."

It was more polite than saying 'publicly molesting' or possibly 'raping' him. "I'm sure they were just trying to embarrass me. That or maybe they were trying to remind me that they're stronger than me and I should keep that in mind when I'm berating them over mission reports." Iruka frowned, the anger boiling up all over again.

"Mah I think it's cute when you get mad and yell over something like that." Kakashi said it then immediately flushed again. His face hadn't fully recovered from before and was now almost entirely pink.

Iruka laughed, unable to stop himself. He'd seen Kakashi blush once or twice before and it always made him smile. The 'cold and emotionally devoid copy-nin' blushing. It was endearing and made him want to see what it looked like when Kakashi wasn't wearing his mask. "Yeah well you're cute when you stick your foot in your mouth."

"Mah..." Kakashi looked away.

The reaction made Iruka's chest tighten happily. He knew he yelled at Kakashi more than anyone else, the man was aggravating and he always seemed to be the one who got stuck dealing with that fact. It'd surprised him last night and now it did again that Kakashi didn't hate him for it and that made him unexpectedly happy. "Kakashi-" Iruka waited until Kakashi was looking at him again, "-thank you."

Kakashi shrugged, the motion a little restrained with the way they were laying. "I'm sure you'll think of a way to get your revenge so really I was doing them a favor since now you don't have to kill them."

"Killing them would be too nice for them. I'll find something horrible but appropriate to the crime to repay them with," Iruka agreed. He swallowed, anxiety welling up his chest. "I don't _just_ punish people when they deserve it..." There was no doubt he was going out on a limb and making an assumption but something told him the risk was worth it.

"So what you punish them when they don't deserve it to?" Kakashi asked, laughing.

Iruka chuckled, shaking his head slightly then reaching up to touch Kakashi's mask. "It's a good policy to reward those who deserve it as well." The fact that Kakashi wasn't trying to stop him seemed like consent even though it wasn't verbally given, so he pulled the mask down. Every nerve in his body seemed to be on end, the nervous energy had him shaking slightly. "I believe the hero is supposed to be rewarded with a kiss." He leaned forward slowly, giving Kakashi every chance to pull away, and brushed his lips lightly over Kakashi's. When Kakashi's lips parted under his, Iruka took it for the invitation he believed it to be and deepened the kiss. Their tongues brushed against each other with slow strokes and Iruka hummed lightly when hands slid around his waist and Kakashi pulled him closer. _Maybe_ he wouldn't be too hard on them after all.


	16. Beyond Oblivious

Title: Beyond Oblivious  
Pairing: KakaIruSummary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Where was your first date with each other? How did it go? Did you only realize it was a date after it happened?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

Iruka was affectionate to everyone. He always had a hug for his students who needed one when their parents couldn't be there to give it. When his fellow shinobi needed reassurance it was often a hand on their shoulder and a smile but even they could count on a hug if they really needed it. It was expected of him.

Where as he, Kakashi, wasn't outwardly affectionate even to his friends. He had his own special way of showing affection even if it wasn't with hugs and pats on the head. He teased his friends and deliberately drove them crazy when he could while pretending he didn't care or notice that they were getting upset. Gai pretended he didn't realize the truth and acted even more enthusiastic or wounded. Tenzou thought he was mean and complained. Kurenai shook her head at him and scolded him. They understood though what the game was.

When he'd been flirting with Iruka, he'd thought Iruka understood. He pushed Iruka's buttons_because_ he was flirting. When it had finally become apparent that Iruka was just _that_ oblivious he'd pushed more than buttons and kissed him. It had gotten him what he'd wanted even if Iruka had been more than a little baffled at first.

Iruka wasn't however the type to hold hands, kiss, or otherwise show affection to the person he was supposedly in love with while in public. At least Kakashi _thought_ Iruka was in love with him. He hadn't said it but when they were alone he smiled and blushed and kissed him back. Kakashi was starting to wonder if he'd assumed wrong. Every time he tried to steal a kiss, hold his hand, or be in anyway affectionate while they were out, Iruka avoided the contact. Not directly though. He would turn his head, raise his hand and wave to random people, duck into a store... At first he'd thought it was his imagination then he'd thought Iruka was shy but they'd been 'dating' for almost six months and it was still happening.

Kakashi crouched in front of the memorial stone and brushed his fingers over the names engraved on it. "What should I do, Sensei?" He hadn't done any thing wrong that he could think of and really he didn't think he was in trouble. "I never thought that of all people it would be him that keeps me at a distance." He shifted, scratched his head, and frowned. Gai, Tenzou, Asuma, Kurenai... any of this other friends reached out to him. "Do you think that maybe it's as simple as he doesn't like me that way but is too nice to tell me?" The smiles could be pity, the blushing could be embarrassment over what a fool Kakashi was making of himself, but the kisses... they felt real. "Would I really know how that feels though when he's the first person I've kissed." _Not_ the first person he'd slept with, though they hadn't yet, but the first person he'd actually 'kissed'. The idea that they weren't real, that Iruka only kissed him so as not hurt him, hurt. He pressed his fingers into the grooves a little harder for a moment then stood up. It would be easier if he could hear the answers but Kakashi knew his Sensei listened and that helped. Turning he slipped through the training field, the stand of trees, and into town.

When he found himself at Iruka's door it didn't really surprise him. He hesitated before knocking then fidgeted with the edge of his glove while he waited.

The door opened and Iruka waved him in then closed it. "It's late, is something wrong?" Concern rang in his voice.

"Do you like me?" The words slipped out without his permission.

Iruka's eyebrows raised and then he gently pushed Kakashi towards the couch. "I'll take that as a yes."

_'And that wasn't.'_ Kakashi frowned under his mask but sat down. The response bothered him more than he wanted to admit.

"What brought this on, Kakashi-san? Did somebody say something?" Iruka asked, sitting down beside him.

'San' sounded like a nail in the coffin. Kakashi swallowed and took a deep breath, knowing he might as well get it over with. "Six months, tomorrow, and you still attach san to my name." His chest felt tight and he shifted.

Iruka's brow furrowed. "Of course I do you never said I could do otherwise and what do you mean six months?"

Kakashi stared at the floor, tracing the pattern in the wood to avoid looking at Iruka. "You know since we started dating and why do I have to tell you not to? I thought it was obvious since-"

"We're dating?" Iruka's voice pitched slightly higher than normal.

Kakashi looked up. Iruka didn't even consider them to be dating? "But..." He couldn't finish it, it made him sound needy and pathetic. The last thing he wanted was for Iruka to think he was those things.

Iruka's cheeks flushed a bright red, making the scar that ran across cheeks and nose stand out in even sharper contrast."But you never said we were and I mean- you- you never- _asked_. We've never even been on a date. When did we start _dating_?"

"We've been on dates." At least he'd thought they were dates.

"When?" There was no missing the confusion in the tone.

_'Maybe they weren't dates, maybe they didn't count.'_ He wasn't sure. Kakashi had assumed they were. He'd ask Iruka to dinner, they went, they had dinner, they came back here, they talked, they kissed. That fit the definition as far as he knew. "Day before yesterday? Ichiraku's?"

"That was a date?" Iruka blinked, licked his lips, then looked away for a moment. "We do that all the time, I do that with other friends all the time, how is that a date? Besides we've done that for years and you said six months."

"Do you kiss them?" Kakashi realized he was actually terrified Iruka would say yes as irrational and illogical the possibility seemed.

Closing his eyes, Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "No, but-" He swallowed and looked back up at Kakashi. "-I wasn't sure what those meant or that they meant anything. For all I knew you were just trying to get me to sleep with you and that's _not_ the same thing as dating so I just avoided letting it go there."

It all seemed overly complicated the way Iruka was putting it. Kakashi hadn't realized that he was supposed to spell it out that he wanted dinner to be a date when he asked him out. He'd thought that had been obvious when he kissed him. "But you kissed me back. You _were_ kissing me back, weren't you?"

"Yes." Iruka's cheeks flushed red all over again. "I never meant to but when you kiss me I can't help it."

"You didn't want to kiss me?" Kakashi was glad he had his mask, he felt exposed as it was.

Iruka shook his head. "I did but..." he chewed on his lower lip and wrung his fingers, his cheeks still impossibly bright.

"But?" His stomach felt like it was twisting itself up into a million knots and a tiny little ball at the same time. It wasn't really a pleasant feeling. Shinobi were trained to ignore and shut down fear but the anxiety was there and he couldn't make it go away.

His eyes darted away, off to the side, but Iruka didn't actually turn his head. "I didn't know it was a date so I didn't want to get attached and even before you kissed me I was- uhm- starting to. I told Anko and Genma and uhm- Ebisu so I thought when you asked that they'd told you or somebody they'd told had told you and..."

Kakashi stared wide-eyed for a moment, the words sinking in. "Oh." The fear dissipated, relief filling in it's wake. "Mah, Iruka, you really are oblivious." He pulled his mask down then leaned forward, tilted his head, and pressed his lips to Iruka's. It was brief, just a brush of lips. "I love you. Will you go out with me, _Iruka_?" He pulled back far enough to see Iruka's eyes. The shock in them made him want to laugh.

Iruka fish mouthed for a moment. "You- you _love_ me?"

"Is that a yes you'll go out with me?" Kakashi asked, nodding and resisting the urge to laugh.

Iruka nodded.

He laughed and kissed Iruka again. "Good. I'd hate to have wasted my first kiss," Kakashi whispered against his lips.

Sliding his hands to Kakashi's chest, Iruka pushed him back. "You're _first_ kiss?" His jaw hung agape after the last word, eyes were wide, and eyebrows raised.

That apparently made it his turn to blush and Kakashi felt his cheeks warm. "Not first anything else but yes," he clarified, not wanting Iruka to get the wrong idea. Again.

"You've never kissed anyone? Ever?" Iruka asked, continuing to hold that 'dumbfounded' expression. "Why not?"

"Mah, you know... it's just..." His face felt like it was on fire. Kakashi averted his gaze and stared at Iruka's shoulder. "It's supposed to be special."

"I love you," Iruka laughed softly then leaned forward and kissed him. "So is tomorrow going to be our first date or our six-month-anniversary?"

All of the earlier tension and fear was gone and Kakashi smiled and slid his arms around Iruka. "Both." He fully intended to make sure tomorrow was very, very special and erase any possible lingering questions or doubts Iruka might have. After all, the man was quite oblivious so it was possible he had some.


	17. The Breakup

Title: The Break-up  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Iruka, has Kakashi ever tried to break up with you "for your own good"?  
Disclaimer: Clearly don't own given that I'm not japanese or a guy and the author is.  
AN: I was SUPPOSED to be writing fics that I have sitting in my scraps but this thing came out instead. Oh well.

* * *

"It's just-" Kakashi looked down, away. "I don't think we should be together anymore." He reached over and carefully pulled the kunai out of the tree, carefully tucking them in his leg pouch. "I think we should go our separate ways." The tone of his voice was even, flat and his expression matched.

Iruka shook his head. "No."

Kakashi sighed then turned and walked away, heading for the bridge that separated the training grounds from the rest of the village. "It wasn't really a question. You wanted to know why I was avoiding you and I told you."

Running to catch up, Iruka grabbed Kakashi's, arm and tried to stop him. "How can you even say that?"

Kakashi pulled his arm away and continued to walk.

Iruka stared at him, frustrated and desperate for a way to fix things. He didn't even understand why though. Kakashi had been the one to chase _him_, he'd been the one to initiate a relationship then- he'd just pulled back. There had been no warning, no fight, no reason at all that Iruka could see, he'd just started avoiding him. "Kakashi you have to at least give me a reason!"

He didn't turn around. "Because, I'm bored."

'Bored'. The word hurt but didn't ring true and Iruka grabbed him again. "If you're going to lie to me at least make it believable because right now I believe that about as much as your completely asinine ones about why you're late." He frowned then let Kakashi go. "If you have dinner with me tonight at seven, we can talk about it. It'll give you time to come up with something I'll believe. Either tell me the truth now or give me that." His voice didn't break when he said it, at least that's what Iruka told himself.

Kakashi shrugged and walked away. "Don't wait up."

* * *

Iruka stared at the bentos then out over the rooftops again. He'd fixed Kakashi's favorites, miso with eggplant and broiled saury, and sat out on the roof hoping he would see Kakashi if his boyfriend decided to show up. As foolish as it was he'd also been hoping that maybe Kakashi would see him and decide to come.

It was nearly midnight and there was still no sign of him so Iruka stood up and picked the bentos up. He was shaking slightly as he walked towards the edge of the roof to his balcony. "It's cold out. The tiles are cold. I'm just chilled," he whispered to himself. Iruka knew it was more than that but he intended to lie to himself at least long enough to get inside.

Reaching the edge of the tiles Iruka swallowed and took a slow deep breath to steady his nerves. "If by chance you're watching please-" Iruka broke off as tears trickled down his cheek, "-even if you won't come home to me, always come home safe." The tears frustrated him but Iruka didn't wipe them away. It was dark enough that wiping them from his cheeks would have made it obvious to anyone that they were there.

He looked up at the sky for a moment, the full moon filling his gaze. "I love you." Slipping over the edge and through the balcony, Iruka hoped that even if Kakashi wouldn't tell him why he'd heard him.

* * *

Studying the schedule, Iruka excused himself from the mission desk and headed home. It had become routine after three weeks and routines made everything easier. He went to work, did his shopping, let his friends drag him out when they asked, but it all felt distant. Iruka didn't feel like it was actually _him_ doing those things. Eventually, he was sure, that would change and things would go back to the way they had been before he'd fallen for Kakashi. He just wasn't sure _when_ that would be.

Iruka stopped by the market and picked up his usual order. It still included saury and eggplant but both would go into the freezer, unused, the way they had for three weeks now. "It's a good thing I didn't hold my breath," he muttered.

"I'm sorry? Did I take to long getting your order ready, Iruka-sensei?" Miko asked.

Looking up, Iruka let the words sink in then frowned. "Oh! No. Sorry, Miko-san. I was lost in my own thoughts."

She frowned, tilting her head to the side and furrowing her brow. "Are you okay?"

He was momentarily reminded of Kakashi and froze. It took a moment before he was able to shake the feeling but it wasn't the first time he'd done that in the time since they'd broken up. "Nothing for you to worry about Miko-chan. Thank you for the concern though." Iruka smiled and it was honest because he did appreciate the thought. Handing over the money Iruka hesitated then tightened his hold on the bag and sighed. "Next week I won't need the eggplant or the saury so you could just with hold both from my order from now on. I'll take kobacho, turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenel and cardamon instead."

"I've never known you to be one for curry," she laughed, writing the things down on a piece of paper.

"I guess I'm tired of being boring and having the same thing all the time." Iruka kept his tone as cheerful as he could. He could throw the frozen eggplant and fish in with it and it'd be covered by the taste if he made it hot enough. Frozen eggplant wasn't good for much beyond soup anyway. It could be his way of saying goodbye. When he ran out he simply wouldn't get anymore and maybe by then it would hurt less.

* * *

Iruka sipped at the beer in front of him. "Why did I let you talk me into this Anko?" He'd never been fond of bars in the first place but it had only been two months after Kakashi broken his heart and the place seemed even less interesting. The smoke, the noise, the people... none of it was anything he wanted anything to do with right then.

"Oh don't be such a party pooper Iruka-kun. You've been pining over him for months now, it's time you got on with your life. That or time you got laid at least."

"I'm not here to get laid. I let you drag me here but I'm _not_ going home with somebody just to 'work out a little tension'." Iruka set his lips into a tight line and fixed her with his best 'don't think you're going to push me around' look.

Anko laughed, grabbed his arm, and pulled him towards the back tables. "Who said anything about going home. Drunken sex in a bar is fun."

_'That's exactly what I need to humiliate myself on top of feeling like crap...'_ He couldn't tell her that though, she'd feel bad, and she _was_ trying to help in her own special Anko way.

She pulled him over to a table where Genma and Ebisu were talking to Kotetsu and Izumo, slid in, and pulled him down with her. "Hey boys!" Anko grinned and took a swig from the bottle of beer she had.

"Oooh you brought the living dead out I see," Genma laughed.

Ebisu elbowed him then picked up his drink and rolled his eyes. "Ignore him, Iruka."

"It's fine. I know I've been a little depressing to be around. I'm trying not to be." He couldn't help it, the ache in his heart wasn't getting any better. Iruka took a long gulp of his beer and shrugged.

"So, uh... you never said but..." Kotetsu hesitated, and looked over at Izumo for a second then back at Iruka. "You know..."

"Why'd you guys break up?" Izumo asked, obviously on Kotetsu's behalf.

Iruka sighed and took another drink. "He won't tell me. Well he said he was bored but-" he shook his head, rolled his eyes, and laughed humorlessly, "-that _wasn't_ it." He had theories of course. It had been over and two and a half months, just over three if you counted the two weeks of avoidance before the actual break up. He _had_ theories. With that much time to think it was inevitable but without Kakashi to tell him they were just that. Iruka had wondered more than once if knowing the truth would have made it easy to move on but a part of him that refused to give up, that made it so very painful, insisted that Kakashi's refusal to talk to him meant the truth would give him a chance. Just the thought gave him hope which meant that he couldn't give Kakashi up and he couldn't move on.

Anko elbowed him. "You're staring off again. You should just give him up already _and_ let me kick his ass."

"He called _you_ boring?" Genma asked, raising an eyebrow and pursing his lips thoughtfully. "I thought you made him more interesting. Oh well his loss you can easily find somebody else."

"I can't." It was a fact and he knew it was.

Genma scratched his forehead lightly just above the brow. "And why not? You've got a temper but I'd hit that." He looked over at the other guys at the table. "Assuming none of us were involved with anyone of course. You guys would too right?"

Ebisu's eyes widened in horror. "No. I would not."

"Oh yeah. You guys were on a four man squad together, partners and what not... Sorry but like if you hadn't been?" Genma amended.

"Still no."

"I would if it was like a three some," Kotetsu offered.

Iruka rolled his eyes. "I appreciate the offer, really, but I don't need it. I can't find somebody else because he's _'the one'_ and I don't want anyone else."

"The One?" Anko frowned at him. "He can't be The One. If he was he'd be _here_ with you and not somewhere else possibly with somebody else," she hissed.

Reaching over, Izumo patted Anko's shoulder sympathetically. "She's right, Iruka. Maybe he seemed like it but I'm sure when you find somebody else and it works then you'll see that they were the one."

"No." Iruka shook his head, defiantly. They loved him but they didn't understand.

Genma took the senbon out of his mouth and tapped it on the table. "Ever consider that there isn't one person we're meant to be with, Iruka? A lot of people think somebody is their soulmate only to realize it wasn't true after they break up."

Iruka looked over at Kotetsu and Izumo. "Tell him what a big fat idiot he is."

"He's right Gen, sometimes there is a person who is perfect for us." Kotetsu leaned against Izumo and smiled. "Maybe it's not true for everyone but it is for some of us."

Ebisu leaned forward and looked over at Iruka calmly. "What about Tsunade-sama. She loved her first husband more than anything. She was devoted to him for years even after he died but we all know she feels the same about Jiraiya-sama. So who's The One for her?"

"Maybe they both were," Izumo suggested. "Maybe who she was when she was younger was who belong with Dan-san and maybe who she is now is who belongs with Jiraiya-san but maybe she's his only one. Or maybe Jiraiya was along and she just didn't realize it."

Iruka sighed. Talking about the successful or failed love lives of other people in relation to his own was not what he wanted to do. "Look, I don't know but I do know Kakashi is the only one I want and that will never change. I'm trying not to be the depressed friend no one wants to hang out with but _this_ is not helping. I'm going to go get another beer, you should all find a new topic of conversation." He slid out of the chair and looked at them all. "You have ten minutes so find something, anything to talk about that doesn't have to do with relationships."

Turning he stalked over to the bar. They meant well, he knew they did but this was one of those things they just couldn't help with. He smiled at the bar tender and ordered another beer even though his was still half full. Iruka handed the money over then grabbed the beer that was handed to him, leaving his half empty one behind, and moved to go.

It was crowded enough that he kept getting bumped into and pushed around. Somebody shoved him from behind, an elbow digging into the small of his back as he was forced awkwardly forward. He slammed into another person and barely managed to stay upright. "Watch it," he growled at whoever the rude prick was that had shoved him.

"I think maybe it's _you_ who needs to watch where they're going."

Iruka's head snapped up at the sound, his heart racing at the familiar voice despite it's coldness. "Kakashi..."

The dark grey eye widened slightly, but only for a moment. "Forget it, I was just leaving." Kakashi turned and pushed through the crowd in the vague direction of the door.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Iruka shoved after him, desperate to catch up. The shadows in the bar made it impossible and by the time he was through the door there wasn't even a sign of Kakashi on the street. His chest hurt all over again, the ache that had become dulled by time and permanence was renewed to the sharp stabbing pain that hurt more than being stabbed with a kunai. Iruka wiped the tears away, sniffed, and took a deep breath. "This is never going to stop hurting. Why did I have to fall in love with _you_?"

"Because you're an idiot."

Iruka spun around.

Kakashi stood leaning against the wall beside the door, arms crossed over his flak vest.

He hadn't been able to sense Kakashi's chakra but it wasn't much of a surprise given who he was. "Sorry." Just the knowledge that Kakashi hadn't run away again made him want to smile and he could feel the corners of his lips twitching. Iruka resisted the urge, he knew enough about body language to know Kakashi wasn't relaxed despite the slouch. He was afraid He'd do something to push the other away again.

Tilting his head to the side, Kakashi looked him over, then shook his head. "You're an idiot. Why can't you see you're better off without me?"

"Because I'm not." Iruka was never happier than when he was with Kakashi and he'd known before how lonely he was. It had only gotten worse when Naruto had left to train with Jiraiya. Kakashi had changed that so when he'd pushed him away the loneliness had become overwhelming. He wanted to ask why Kakashi had left because he knew there was something in the question, but he was afraid it would end with Kakashi pushing him away again. Right then he was sure that if he asked the wrong questions or said the wrong things that was exactly what would happen. He was also fairly sure he was being given the chance to fix things. "You told me once that my eyes looked dead so I know you can tell." Iruka sighed. He'd been depressed then, now he just felt hollow. "If I'm better off without you this feeling wouldn't get worse with time."

Kakashi stared at him quietly then sighed. "I'm-" He looked away. "-back in. Not officially but with our resources strained... I had thought that after a so long they wouldn't need me and that it was okay for us to be involved. I was wrong. Now that it's clear the village is recovering we're having to take more missions of those kind and those who've been on them are becoming strained from being pushed to hard."

It took a moment for Iruka to process what Kakashi was saying, what it meant. He'd known before that Kakashi had been in ANBU but it was something they avoided talking about. "So it wasn't because you were bored." Iruka closed his eyes and smiled, a part of him relaxed at the knowledge. "I'm glad." He hadn't realized it but he'd started to believe the lie in light of no other explanation. "I know the risks and I know the chance is higher now but it's too late; it will hurt either way. It doesn't have to hurt _now_ though." Iruka didn't look away, watching for any sign of Kakashi leaving.

"I don't like curry," Kakashi stated simply, shoving his hands into his pockets then he pushed away from the wall and started walking down the street.

Iruka let out a long low breath then laughed. "I don't think I do either." He fell into step beside Kakashi and wondered what he'd do with all the extra ingredients he'd bough for the stuff before deciding it didn't matter.

Kakashi slid his hand into Iruka's as they walked, tangling their fingers. "Such a waste of saury when you can't even taste it."

Chuckling, Iruka nodded and squeezed the hand in his. They were walking towards his apartment and for the first time in months it felt like he was going home.


	18. Best Friends

Title: Best Friends  
Pairing: KakaIru, GaiAnko  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Who's your best friend, other than each other?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

Iruka loved Kakashi, it wasn't a question, just a fact. He trusted the man with his life and he was the person Iruka came home to. The reverse was also true and he didn't for even the briefest moment question that.

That said, while Kakashi was his lover, his boyfriend, his soulmate, he was not in fact his best friend any more than Iruka was his. Some people thought that but those people were wrong and clearly did not understand anything about either of them.

They needed a best friend that wasn't each other. It was simply a matter of fact. A person needed somebody they could go to and tell every little nit picky, annoying, frustrating thing to. Sometimes that 'thing' they needed to talk about or blow a little steam off about was in fact their beloved. You couldn't spend every waking moment being happily in love. Maybe you could spend most of it as such but even if it was just point one percent of the time that you wanted to strangle them you still needed somebody that you could tell this to and who would either tell you're being an idiot or commiserate with you and help you plan the proper punishment so that you could forgive them and go on being pathetically in love with them.

Iruka had loved Mizuki and he'd been kicked around by the bastard. In the end he'd been betrayed by him and that had been before Mizuki had betrayed the village. He'd betrayed Iruka when he'd decided to get engaged to their teammate. It had hurt and Iruka had, had to pretend that it didn't. He'd wished them happiness at the engagement party and despite how much it had hurt he'd remained their friend.

For a long time after he'd given up on the idea of finding love again and had even considered doing the socially expected thing of finding a wife and starting a family because at least then he wouldn't be lonely and he was most definitely lonely.

Anko had talked him out of it or rather she'd smacked him upside his head and threatened to beat the crap out of him if he tried it. She had also insisted that he needed to get laid and then waggled her eyebrows and suggested that his fight with Kakashi over the chunin exams was merely pent up sexual tension. She'd also suggested that he should see if the jounin was free to help him with that.

On the other side of the equation, Iruka had later learned, Gai had done the one thing that would change everything. He'd set another challenge with his rival. One of Love and Bravery and every possible Youthful thing associated with them. The challenge had been for them each to pick somebody for the other to ask out and Gai had picked Iruka. Kakashi won too.

Iruka and Kakashi had both there after been so caught up in each other that it was only now, nearly two years later, that they had resolved to return the favor.

Kakashi had challenged Gai, won, and this time instead of letting the man set his own impossible task, he'd set one and insisted that he there would be no more challenges unless Gai completed it.

Iruka had simply threatened do unspeakable things to Anko if she refused. He'd of course insisted that it was for her own good, because after all it was.

Smiling, Iruka watched the couple on their now 'third' date from a polite distance that was easily far enough away that he and Kakashi couldn't be consider to be stalking them. "They'll be good for each other." He'd thought so from the start but now, watching Anko blush for the first time in years as Gai handed over two little pink mice for her pet snakes' dinner, he was certain.

"You're not afraid they'll drive each other crazy?" Kakashi asked, his eyebrow raising noticeably.

Anko took the cage set it down somewhere inside out of sight, then grinning wickedly she wrapped her fingers around Gai's hitai-ate and yanked him inside as well. The door slammed shut.

Iruka coughed, covering a laugh, and pulled Kakashi away and down the street. "If you haven't driven me crazy by now I somehow suspect they'll be fine. After all you can't go someplace you're already at."


	19. Tempted

Title: Tempted  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Have either kakashi or iruka even been unfaithful? Or been tempted? And if yes with who?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

He didn't know her name. It wasn't important anyway. When she'd sat down at the bar beside him he hadn't thought anything about it. She was just another person in the sea of people. It could have been anyone.

"I met this woman at the bar while you were on a mission last week, or was it the week before that..." Iruka frowned, trying to remember exactly, but it had been a busy month. The days were blurring together. Kakashi always seemed to be out on missions lately and he was always at the academy, in the mission room, on guard duty, or doing one of the other millions of tasks that needed done around the village. He shook his head, trying to clear it. "It doesn't really matter when."

Kakashi shifted on the bed beside him. "Was she pretty? Is she?" he asked, his tone wavering slightly with uncertainty.

"I don't remember. I guess she must have been. She had nice eyes. I remember that." They were the only thing he really remembered about her, he'd been drunk though. "She had dark gray eyes like you." Iruka smiled, remembering thinking she should close one or cover it up so he could look at her right while at the same time wondering if that's what Kakashi's eyes had looked like when he was younger. Her eyes had fascinated him in his drunken state.

"Ah, well there's that." Kakashi's voice didn't change and he didn't move to get up.

Iruka sighed then tucked a hand behind his head. "I shouldn't have been drinking, I had a shift the next day, but I missed you." He closed his eyes. "I was just so lonely and everyone kept coming in and it seemed like everyone was a couple..."

"Hmm..." The sound was soft, barely there.

Rolling over Iruka pushed Kakashi onto his back and smiled down at him. "You're the one who asked if I was ever tempted." He kissed Kakashi softly on the nose. "I wonder sometimes what it would be like if things were different. I always thought that I'd get married and have a family because I thought it would mean never being lonely." He'd hated being alone, ever since he was a kid. "I _had_ offers."

Kakashi looked away, towards the window. "I know. That's why I asked."

"It's always something though. Sometimes it's their eyes or the way they smile or just a hesitation before they say something." Iruka shook his head, smiling. "And then no matter how tempting the idea of a safe, stable family here in Konoha is... in that second it's broken because the only thing I can see is you. You're the only answer to my loneliness. I love _you_, Kakashi."

Kakashi smiled and slid an arm around Iruka. "I love you too. What happens though if some day you don't see me in them?"

Iruka sighed and shook his head. Then he he leaned down and kissed Kakashi again, this time on the lips. "I will _always_ see you in everything because you _are_ my everything." He knew it was true too because the only thing he ever remembered when somebody hit on him was how much he missed Kakashi.

"Mah, I thought I was supposed to be the hopeless romantic," Kakashi drawled.

He laughed again then leaned down and stole another kiss. "I have my moments."


	20. A Question Of Fear

Title: A Question of Fear

Pairing: KakaIru

Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring

Question: Iruka, aren't you afraid of Kakashi, him being an elite jounin and all? Not even a little bit?

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)

* * *

"Iruka, aren't you afraid of Kakashi, him being an elite jounin and all? Not even a little bit?" Tsubaki leaned on the table as she asked it, her voice even though her brow furrowed slightly.

The question seemed to come out of the blue and Iruka stared at her, confused for a moment. "Why would I be?"

"No reason I guess but well rumor has it he's ex-ANBU and they're not exactly-" she hesitated, looking around the restaurant for a moment. "-sane."

Iruka noticed that she seemed to do that a lot lately. She was a chuunin like him but rank had never seemed to bother her before so it took him a moment to process. She seemed more timid than usual and it only took a moment for Iruka to realize why. Mizuki. She'd been betrayed and used by him just like Iruka had. Mizuki wasn't higher rank than them but he was more powerful and logically would have been a jounin if he hadn't been being watched by the council. "Tsubaki, I can't go around being afraid of everyone just because my best friend turned out to be a traitor who tried to kill me. Kakashi would never do that anyway. He's not Mizuki. I can't say he's always the most sane person I know but I don't doubt for a second that he'd die to protect anyone in this village."

"But..." She looked down and poked at her food.

"I'm not scared of him and if you knew him you'd understand why." He'd been on a mission with Kakashi and as insane as he likely was Kakashi's sense of duty was clearly ingrained. He was more apt to do something suicidal than homicidal.

"I thought I knew Mizuki and I didn't think he'd ever hurt anyone the way he did. He was so..." She didn't look up just sighed. "I just think you should be careful. You're worse than me about trusting people you probably shouldn't."

Iruka smiled and shook his head. He appreciated the concern even if it wasn't necessary. "Maybe I am but I'd rather be that way than be afraid." It seemed almost cruel to say but she needed to hear it or her fears were going to consume her. "Besides I REFUSE to be afraid of jounin no matter who they are. It's like giving them the advantage and I've pulled enough pranks on them and gotten the upper hand enough to know they aren't perfect. Hell I think they tend to fall for them more because they're jounin and they're cocky. Kakashi's no different."

Tsubaki looked up and smiled. "You were always the bravest man I knew."

"I don't know if I believe that," he laughed. "You don't have to worry though I have absolutely no reason to be afraid of Kakashi. If anything he has reasons to be afraid of me. I know his weaknesses after all."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, the smile growing. "And, what would those be exactly?"

"Well those damn perverted books of his for one." Iruka picked up his tea and sipped it, a smile curving his lips. "And well, me for another."

Tsubaki's eyes widened until the whites showed all around her irises. "Oh..."

Iruka smirked. "You don't think the only reason I've been spending time with him is Naruto do you?"

She blushed and looked back down at her plate, suddenly very intent on the nearly untouched meal.

Iruka just laughed and shook his head. It really was hard to be afraid of a man when you were capable of making him beg.


	21. Childish

Title: Childish

Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Did you two run into each other as kids? There are several versions of this question so I picked the simplest one to answer, but it's to everyone who asked this question.  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)  
Dedicated to: Whoever asked the question and Lenap because I had the first part written AGES ago back when she posted the title art in her diary so well over a year ago then I saw this question and decided to finish it.

* * *

Kakashi paused, staring at the boy tying his yukata. Even in the crowd of the festival they caught his attention and he couldn't explain why, although the faintest recognition tugged at his mind. The boy was an academy student and he'd seen him a few times in passing.

"Iru-chan if you'd just let me tie that it would stop coming undone." The brown-haired woman's voice was soft and there was a clear note of barely contained amusement to it.

The boy shook his head and focused on tying the knot. "I can do it."

Those four words were apparently her undoing and the woman laughed and scrubbed a hand over her son's head. "You never need your mommy anymore," she laughed.

Iruka pulled the fabric tight, sighed, and looked up at his mother. "I'm almost a ninja."

The statement drew another laugh. "Yes, you are." She reached down and touched her son's scar, tracing it with her finger tip. "So indulge me until you are. It's not easy on a mother you know. Shinobi grow up way too fast."

Kakashi watched them, thinking of his own mother who had died before he'd even entered the academy. She was only the faintest memory, a fragile ghost that he'd clung to in those days before she'd left him and his father alone. The ache that welled up in his chest at the thought of her made him want to punch the younger boy who pushed his own mother away like she would always be there. He didn't, of course, instead he shoved his anger down and passed by them without a word, only briefly glancing over his shoulder as he did.

"I used to hate you," Kakashi said simply, drinking his tea as he leaned against the couch. The fingers brushing his hair paused and brown eyes looked down at him, confusion clearly written in them. Kakashi reached up with one hand and traced the scar on Iruka's cheeks.

Iruka caught Kakashi's hand as it finished and kissed it. "My mother used to do that."

"I know. I saw her do it once," he admitted.

His brow knit together for a moment before understanding lit Iruka's face. "You hated me because you saw me with my mother?"

"No." Kakashi shook his head. "I hated you because you still had yours and you didn't need her or at least you said you didn't. It was childish but I resented you for that. I was jealous."

Iruka looked away and sighed. "I always needed her, I didn't always think I did, but I always did. I'm not sure anyone ever stops needing their parents."

Kakashi tugged on the hand holding his. "I know.

Smiling, Iruka squeezed his hand. "What made you think about it?"

Pointing one of the fingers twined with Iruka's, Kakashi indicated their ukatas that were draped over the chair. "I saw you at a festival with her once. You were trying to tie your obi and wouldn't let her help."

"Oh." Iruka leaned forward and kissed Kakashi upside down, tilting his head so their lips locked in the awkward kiss. "Well this time she'll be the one watching."

"Hopefully she won't resent me for being the one holding your hand." He couldn't really see the woman who'd laughed at her son's independence doing so.

Iruka shook his head and kissed Kakashi again. "No, but I bet she'll be laughing."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow curiously. "Why?"

"Because I never did learn to tie an obi properly." The tan cheeks flushed. "It always looks sloppy and works itself free."

The admission made Kakashi laugh. "Do you need me to tie it for you?" he teased.

Iruka scrunched up his nose and stuck out his lip in a very childish pout. "No."

Kakashi laughed again, harder. That sulking and stubbornness guaranteed that Iruka's mother wouldn't be the only one laughing.


	22. Tail

Title: Tail

Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Iruka, have you met Sai? If so, did he give you a nickname? Kakashi, why are Iruka's nostrils flaring and that vein bulging in his forehead? Kakashi why is your eye twitching?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon (and so would ShikaKiba)  
Dedicated to: Whoever asked the question.

* * *

Iruka heard complaints from Naruto near constantly after Sai was assigned to team seven. He found amusing the way the red crawled up Naruto's neck until his face and ears were a bright red when he ranted about his new team member. He'd get so riled up that Iruka could clearly picture a cat or well a small fox's fur bristling the way he tensed. It was easy to imagine with the teen's spikey hair even if it was blonde.

Kakashi ignored the fighting, Tenzou did his best to stop it, and Iruka was convinced that between the two of them things would work themselves out. He was also fairly certain Naruto was over-reacting. The nickname wasn't that bad and it was clearly just Sai's attempt to get under Naruto's skin. He did what any good teacher would do and told Naruto as much and that once they got to know each other better, Sai would find a new nickname for him.

That was of course before he, himself had met Sai. Now he knew better.

"I'm going to kill him," he growled, slamming the door behind him.

Kakashi lowered his book, looked over, and raised his visible eyebrow in confusion. He didn't move from where he was sprawled across the couch, his lanky figure covered by a light blanket from his chest down to his toes. The mask usually drawn up over the lower half of his face was tucked under his chin, though his headband was still in it's usual place draped over left eye. "What's got your pony tail in a twist?"

Reaching up, Iruka yanked the simple black hair tie out and let the brown strands fall over the sides of his headband. He threw the hair tie at Kakashi's head. "That is exactly what the problem is and don't mock me or I'll shove that book where you won't be able to read it."

His eyes followed the hair tie but Kakashi didn't bother to dodge the projectile, letting bounce harmlessly off his own head.

"I'm going to kill him and anyone else who utters that... that..." Iruka gritted his teeth, trying to bite back the words he wanted to use. 'Stupid fucking demeaning ass nick name!' It was completely inaccurate too.

After another moment he sighed and ran a hand through his own hair, the silver spikes were combed backwards only to return to their previous position almost like magic. "You can't kill him, whoever he is."

Iruka threw his bag into the chair and yanked his vest off. "Don't you dare underestimate me. I am perfectly capable of killing him and he deserves it!" He toed off his shoes then bent down and started unwrapping his calves.

Kakashi set his book down on the coffee table. "I am sure you are. You're not the kind of person to kill a comrade just because he pissed you off." He chuckled and sat up. "Half the village would be dead if you were."

Looking up Iruka glared at him. "Yeah? Well I'm reconsidering my stance on that after finding out what he and half the village is calling me."

"He?" His voice raised a little, matched by his eyebrow arching again. "Who is 'he' and what did he call you that has you so outraged?" Kakashi still didn't move off of the couch though he did toss the blankets aside.

"Sai." Iruka relaxed very slightly at the concern he could hear in Kakashi's voice. "And..." He let out a shakey, angry breath. "He's referring to me as 'Tail'."

"Tail?" Kakashi's face scrunched up and he frowned for a moment.

Iruka sighed, rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms. "Yes. Tail."

"It's not that bad." Kakashi scratched the top of his. "Not his most creative.

Iruka glared and strode over to stand in front of him. "It's completely inappropriate. Not only is it rude, I'm older than him and I am a teacher."

Waving his hand dismissively, Kakashi leaned back. "I'm sure he just means 'ponytail'."

"The fuck he does!" Iruka closed his eyes and sucked in a breath, trying to regain some measure of control over his temper. He knew if he didn't he was liable to hunt the mouthy little shit down and teach him some manners with much older methods than he'd ever been prone to use on young shinobi. All he could think of was Genma's smirk as he leaned over and asked him if he was 'Kakashi's Tail'. "And he's not the only one fucking using it. If I hear one more horrible pun about 'chasing Tail' I will fucking kill somebody."

Kakashi nodded, tapping his cheek with a finger and humming. "Ah, yes, as I recall it you were the one chasing me so that isn't the best play on that nick name. It could be worse though..."

Iruka twitched, he knew he shouldn't ask and yet the word slipped from his tongue before he could stop it. "How?"

"He could have called you 'pussy' and it's not half as bad as 'dickless' or 'ugly' when you think about it." One corner of Kakashi's lips twitched slightly.

He slammed his fist down on top of Kakashi's head, grabbed his bag and stormed off towards the bedroom. "Don't even think about sleeping here tonight!"

"You mean I'm not getting any 'Tail' tonight?" Kakashi asked, laughing.

Iruka didn't even turn around just slammed the door behind him. He had 'accidents' to plot.


	23. Caught In The Act

Title: Caught In The Act  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Short written forKakaIru Formspring  
Question: What's the most promiscuous position Kakashi has gotten Iruka in in public?  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto or these two would be Canon and there would be a great deal more smut.  
Dedicated to: Whoever asked the question and Lenap because she commissioned me to write her some random KakaIru a while ago and I was so busy I hadn't had time to finish it and I figured now was as good a time as any so I went and grabbed a formspring question to play with. This one looked fun.  


* * *

  
Contrary to popular belief, Iruka was not nearly the prude most people thought that he was. He had to pay attention to who was around, of course, and he still wasn't the sexual deviant that everyone thought Kakashi was, but he wasn't some innocent like they seemed to think. To be fair, Kakashi wasn't the sexual deviant that everyone thought he was either. However, neither of them was about to out the other as anything more or less than what the majority of people assumed.

At least not intentionally.

When Anko caught them on the roof of the Hokage's office, Kakashi'd had to bribe her with a month's pay worth of dango.

Iruka hadn't been able to look at her for the next week without turning red or thinking about what she'd caught them doing. It left him torn between mortification because it was her, she was like a sister to him, and arousal because the risk of getting caught was actually more thrilling when you sometimes did get caught.

She would look at him, grin, and then do something grotesque and pointed, like stick her tongue through the ring base of a kunai.

Which, of course, made his cheeks burn with more passion than Gai put into his speeches.

When Ibiki found them in his office, on his desk, Iruka wanted to laugh.

Kakashi had turned more shades of red than he'd ever seen and, in his scramble to find his mask, had forgotten his pants. When the door closed behind them, he realized it.

Iruka had really wanted to laugh, but the slightest of smirks had earned him a death glare, and he'd managed to refrain from doing so.

Ibiki did return the pants. The next day. At the mission desk. In front of everyone. To him. The slightest smirk twitched on his lips when he held them out and the stated, "You and Kakashi left these under my desk, and I thought that I should return them."

There had been numerous inquiries for the rest of the afternoon as to what they'd been doing and if Ibiki had been involved, too. Trying to get any work done had become impossible from that point on. That made it slightly less funny, especially since Kakashi wasn't there for him to lay the blame on.

Neither of those 'mishaps,' or any of the half dozen other similar incidents, compared to the day that Sai had caught them in the act.

Nothing that he or Kakashi said helped. Iruka was really just glad that Sai had never actually been one of his students. Of course, if he had been, maybe the questions would have been far fewer for the simple fact that he doubted any of his former students wanted to even think of him as having sex, let alone know the details of it.

By the end of the day, half the town not only knew that Kakashi occasionally liked it up the ass, but they knew the exact sound he made when Iruka moved his hips in just the right way. They knew because Sai demonstrated it and provided a visual reference. They all also knew about the henohenomoheji tattoo Iruka had gotten when he was drunk after a mission in Suna. There was really no detail left out, and Kurenai now had a little art book of the incident.

The idea of semi-public sex lost its appeal after that. At least mostly.


	24. Arguing With A Genius

Title: Arguing With A Genius  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: A short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or there would be more smut in it.  
Dedicated to: Whoever asked the question.

Breaking up... everyone considered it at least once. All of them had their reasons and they ranged from the safety of the person they loved to just average relationship issues.

That is... everyone except Iruka. He refused. At least, he refused to consider being the one to break it off. Kakashi did enough of that for the both of them. Since the man was a genius it meant that Iruka heard every possible reason against their being together. He was also used to dealing with Kakashi's self-destructive behavior. It tried his patience at times, but it also reminded him why he loved the man so much.

What Iruka considered when the subject was brought up or came to mind were all the reasons they belonged together and all the ways to convince Kakashi to stop worrying about what could happen. The best argument was also the best way to do the second... and the most fun.

Iruka pushed Kakashi's hair out of his face and smiled. "I'm starting to think this was your idea all along."

Kakashi blinked sleepily at him. "Hm?"

"You know, if all you wanted was to get me into bed you don't need to break-up with me to do that," Iruka teased, stealing a sleepy, sated kiss.

His eyes slid shut and Kakashi smiled, his chest shaking softly with quiet laughter. "You're always so... determined when you have something to prove and it's not my fault that's your best defense or that you resort to it all the time."

Rolling his eyes, Iruka poked Kakashi's side. "I resort to it all the time because it's the one that works and that is your fault. Your brain slows down to normal speeds when we're naked."

Kakashi caught Iruka's wrist and pulled his hand out from under the blankets. "When you're naked." He kissed the palm. "I don't have to be naked."

"Pervert." Despite the accusation, Iruka slid his fingers along Kakashi's cheek. "If you're not careful I might let you win that argument one of these days," he threatened, pressing another light kiss to Kakashi's lips.

"Don't." Kakashi whispered the word, a sad note obvious even in that single word. "Please, don't ever let me win that one."

He'd only been teasing and he hated to hear the hurt in Kakashi's voice, but he was also gratified to hear the plea. Iruka smiled, his heart aching all over again, -this time from happiness- and kissed Kakashi. "Okay."


	25. Iruka's Butt

Title: Iruka's Butt  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: Quick short for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Kakashi, what makes Iruka's butt so special?  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or I would be writing more of it right now. As it is I'm working on original stuff that I hope people will appreciate.  
Dedicated to: Whoever asked the question.  
A/N: The title might change when it's not 5 am and I'm not so tired and it might not. I just felt like a little KakaIru since I've been missing it so much lately. I'm hoping it will help motivate me to just get writing.

It wasn't really Iruka's ass that Kakashi liked. Not that it wasn't wonderful, it was. It was round, perky, and despite spending a lot of time behind the desk teaching and in the mission room very muscular. He appreciated it, he did, but what he really liked was Iruka's reaction when he groped it.

Iruka's back would stiffen, his eyes would widen momentarily before narrowing in slight annoyance, and then the faintest flush would color his cheeks.

Kakashi loved that. That moment right before Iruka hit him. There was a certain satisfaction in seeing the chuunin's pink cheeks and knowing what it really meant... that he would get exactly what he wanted when they got home. Punished.


	26. Not Perfect

Title: Not Perfect  
Pairing: KakaIru  
Summary: A short written for KakaIru Formspring  
Question: Kakashi, there are a lot of stories where you're the ass and Iruka breaks up with you. Has there been a time when Iruka was the ass and no amount of begging would you take him back?  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, obviously or the filler episodes would be more character backstories and less randomness.  
Dedicated to: Whoever asked the question

Iruka wasn't perfect. A lot of people assumed he was, but Kakashi knew better.

He had a temper for one. Sometimes he got pissed over stupid things or yelled at Kakashi just because he'd had a rough day teaching the kids or dealing with the mission room maniacs. It didn't help that Iruka had a stubborn streak a mile wide and would sometimes try to justify his tantrums instead of just apologizing. Most people took Iruka's side without knowing the situation and that irritated Kakashi more than being yelled at for no reason. The fact that Iruka knew more cuss words and was far more creative with them than any of the jounin Kakashi knew came to light within the first month of their dating. Iruka didn't even need them, he could make anyone he chose feel about an inch tall without uttering a single one.

There was also the fact that he was the world's biggest slob next to maybe Naruto and that was even questionable. Kakashi had pulled things out of the fridge after coming back from a mission that even Naruto wouldn't have eaten. Laundry ended up all over the place and if Kakashi didn't clean the bathroom it didn't happen. The man was disgusting and Kakashi wondered how he didn't get lost in the mess that he created when Kakashi wasn't there to clean up after him. It had almost been a deal breaker when he'd first started dating him. After they'd moved in together, Kakashi had hoped he'd try to keep things cleaner, and he did try, but it was still Kakashi who did the majority of the cleaning. After a long mission it was frustrating to come home to a mess and he really wished that Iruka would skip the apologizing then and just clean.

Iruka sometimes took pranks too far which Kakashi also found slightly annoying. Even when it wasn't aimed at him, Kakashi wasn't sure he liked the vindictiveness Iruka showed. Something that started as a joke could turn out to be an all out prank war in the matter of a few days and Iruka never gave up. He had to have the last laugh even if it was no longer funny.

There were other things too. Little things. Things Kakashi simply found annoying or gross. The way Iruka chewed on his pencils when he was thinking. Kakashi had to hide his own just to have something to write with. Iruka snored too which was fine if Kakashi got to sleep before he started, but annoying if he didn't manage to.

When Iruka broke up with him just because he'd maybe kind of groped Iruka's ass in front of the pre-genin Kakashi flat out considered it an asshole move. The fact that half the village thought it was his fault didn't convince him otherwise either. They hadn't been the one to come home to locked doors and windows. They hadn't had to sleep on Asuma's couch. For a WEEK. And, aside from Asuma and Gai none of them had any idea how much that had hurt.

When he found Iruka waiting for him at the memorial stone all he felt was relief. When Iruka looked up at him with tears in his eyes it was all Kakashi could do to keep from shedding his own. The apologies, pleas, and promises that fell from Iruka's lips in an endless tumble, echoed the ache Kakashi had felt all week.

Kakashi loved Iruka. He loved him not just because he was a wonderful, sweet, forgiving man who loved everyone and poured his heart into everything he did, but because he wasn't perfect and he never made himself out to be. It would have been impossible for Kakashi to love Iruka if he'd been perfect, because Kakashi wasn't perfect either. For every fault he had Kakashi could list a dozen wonderful things about him. Iruka made mistakes, but he always forgave everyone else theirs so there was nothing Iruka could do that Kakashi wouldn't forgive him for.

Iruka wasn't perfect and Kakashi didn't care.


	27. Lullaby

Title: Lullaby  
Pairing: Kakashi x Iruka  
Summary: Dreams and death are all too near a thing, what calls to Kakashi in one keeps him from the other. Written forKakaIru Formspring.  
Question: What's your earliest childhood memory?  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or it would be a lot shorter.  
Dedicated to: Whoever asked the question.

* * *

Even disregarding the effects of the sharingan, Kakashi had been blessed with a good memory. Sometimes in the morning -when he was neither asleep nor quite awake- he could almost hear her voice. It was always the same tune. "The right wing is the night, the night I make myself forget, the wing makes me forget the pain and sadness, the left wing is the sea, the sea makes me remember the past, the sea reflects the person I didn't want to forget..." Once he awoke fully he couldn't recall her face, but her voice and the words of the lullaby hung in the air. It always left him feeling strangely calm.

What he never told anyone was that he sang it to himself when he needed that feeling. When he was covered in blood and broken from a mission those were the words that always brought him back to himself. He never heard anyone's voice, but hers when he heard them even when they came from his own throat. The memory that lingered in his dream was home to his heart.

He'd been so sure though that this time not even they would reach his ears to draw him back. Then, they'd been there off in the darkness, calling him home. He thought for a moment that it really was his long dead mother, that she had come to walk him to the after-life. As the words grew louder though, he realized that the voice was that of a man and it broke with the ragged weight of emotion in it. His mother's voice was never sad, only soft and distant.

Slowly the weight of the world returned to him; with it came the dull ache of wounds softened by healing chakra and pain medication. Kakashi tried to force his eyes open before realizing whatever sedative he'd been given still had a strong hold on him and giving up. Swallowing, he opened his mouth and sang the chorus with the singer, his voice barely above a whisper. "Lullaby, lullaby. Sleep, my heart. Lullaby, lullaby. Soon it will be tomorrow."

The singer's voice broke into a choked sob and a hand grasped one of his. "Kakashi-san..."

And then, in that moment, he knew the voice. He realized he'd known it all along, but either his injuries or whatever they'd given him had kept him floating in that dream-space where reality was somewhere on the other side of a thick fog and slipped through ones fingers just as easily. "Iruka."

"I thought..."

The thought was never finished, but Kakashi knew what they were. "How- do you know- that song?" It was hard to get the words out, he had to put more effort into it than he had to sing since he wanted Iruka to hear them.

There was a soft chuckle and a sniffle from Iruka. "You whisper it, in your sleep, sometimes. I don't know why, but it was all I could think of."

Kakashi had never realized that he did that. "Thank you-" He smiled. "-for calling me home."

End


End file.
